India, Russia discuss cooperation through Parliamentary Friendship groups

A delegation from the Federal Council of Russia met with members of Rajya Sabha on Thursday and discussed the whole range of Russian-Indian bilateral cooperation with a special focus on the development of relations through India-Russia Parliamentary Friendship groups.

During the meeting, both the countries discussed various issues of mutual interest, comprising of inter-regional cooperation between Russia and India including in economic sphere, youth entrepreneurship, educational and cultural exchanges, boosting inter-parliamentary contacts, not only on a bilateral level, but also on a multilateral one, as well as developing forums such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS.

The two sides also stressed on the necessity of early signing of the agreement on mutual recognition of diplomas between Russia and India.

In addition to this, both India and Russia have agreed to develop direct trade relations to achieve a turnover of up to 30 billion dollars.

To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, both India and Russia have agreed to host events in Moscow.

The Russian delegation was headed by member of the Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State Building Yelena Afanasyeva, deputy chairperson of the Committee on Budget and Financial Markets Elena Perminova and first deputy chairperson of the Committee on Economic Policy Vyacheslav Timchenko.

The Russian delegation met with Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh and the India-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Group led by member of Lok Sabha Hema Malini,

national General Secretary of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Ram Madhav, leader of the parliamentary opposition Sonia Gandhi, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs Shashi Tharoor.

The Russian delegation took part in a working dinner held on behalf of Strategy and Planning Advisor to FICCI Peter T. Hassan, in the presence of senior Indian officials and ambassadors of Japan and Brazil.

-ANI