MOSCOW (CNN) -- Russian President Boris Yeltsin's postponement of a December trip to India has fueled more speculation about the 67-year-old leader's health.

The delay is the second time this year Yeltsin has put off a trip to India. A scheduled trip last January was put off due to health concerns.

Yeltsin has been working from a country home outside Moscow, where he has been recuperating from exhaustion and high blood pressure. He has had a long list of health problems in recent years.

India's foreign ministry said Thursday that Yeltsin still wanted to visit the country despite canceling next month's trip. Russia and India have had close ties since the Cold War era.

Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov will go to India in December, but the Russians have told India that Primakov's trip is not a substitute for Yeltsin's.

"He will come later, it is not a cancellation, it's a postponement," an Indian Foreign Ministry official said.

Yeltsin had been scheduled to visit India from December 6 to December 8. India's Foreign Ministry said the two sides were working out new dates for Yeltsin to come to India.

Reuters contributed to this report.