This was confirmed today by Yeltsin's press secretary Dmitry Yakushkin, who cited the President's packed programme in November, as the main reason for the decision to send Primakov to represent Yeltsin for the much-postponed India visit.

No date for Primakov's visit has been fixed, although it will take place in December, an Indian official said. Last January, Yeltsin postponed his visit to India, apparently for health reasons.

The 67-year-old Yeltsin has already held talks this month with Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. He is scheduled to host Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Moscow next Monday.

The visits had fueled speculation about Yeltsin's health, since he curtailed a visit to Central Asia recently, after falling ill. Last week, he bowed out of a state banquet with Obuchi.

It'sPrimakov who has been calling the shots since Yeltsin's latest illness. Primakov represented him at the European Union summit at Vienna last month and at APEC conference at Kuala Lumpur this week.

Yakushkin expressed the hope that Primakov's visit to India would boost developing relations between India and Russia.

The Kremlin decision to send Primakov to New Delhi came as the State Duma started discussion for the second time this month, on a Bill requiring Yeltsin to undergo a full medical examination, and then submit the report to the Parliament's Lower House. The Duma fell just five votes short of approving the Bill.