New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met women lawmakers of the BJP over breakfast at his residence today, the fifth in the series of meetings with a cross-section of parliamentarians from the party.

The party's lawmakers have been divided into seven groups and PM Modi has already met party parliamentarians belonging to the OBC, SC and ST categories, and those who were ministers once, sources said.

The meetings have been planned so BJP lawmakers from both the houses get an opportunity to directly interact with the prime minister, who can guide them and discuss various issues, especially related to the Parliament, a BJP leader said.

An MP who attended one of these meetings said it was an informal interaction with PM Modi directly talking to them. Sources in the BJP have also stated that seven such meetings were planned.

Home minister Amit Shah, who is also the BJP president, and Parliamentary Affairs minister Pralhad Joshi are the only Union ministers who are part of these meetings.

During the 16th Lok Sabha, the prime minister met lawmakers from various states in every session of Parliament, where he spoken to them about the government's agenda.

The newly elected 17th Lok Sabha has 78 women lawmakers, the highest since independence. Of these, 41 of them are from the BJP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and is expected to highlight bilateral non-defence trade.

The Second India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue (IRSED) agreed to submit a report on measures to boost commercial ties.

“President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have set a target of $30 billion in trade volume to be achieved by 2025. While in the year 2018 we saw an inspiring trend with our trade picking up and reaching almost $11 billion there is a lot of space for improvement,” Russian ambassador Nikolay R Kudashev said.