Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Anton Kobyakov and Ambassador of India to Russia Venkatesh Varma met in Moscow.

During the meeting, the sides discussed the participation of representatives of India in major Russian business events as a driver in the development of bilateral relations and the strengthening of the strategic partnership between the two states.

On 7 January in a telephone conversation, President of the Russian Federation invited Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi as the main guest of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on 4–6 September 2019.

“We look forward to the visit of Prime Minister of India to the largest forum in the Asia-Pacific region and hope that this will break new ground of trade and investment cooperation between our countries in the Far East. I am confident that the extensive highest level participation of India in the event can significantly contribute to the achievement of the ambitious objectives announced by Prime Minister of India: to bring the trade turnover between Russia and India to $30 billion by 2025,” said Anton Kobyakov. “We also hope that the initiatives of India, articulated during first Russia–India Strategic Economic Dialogue, will be pursued as national programmes and projects in our countries. For example, in digitalization we’re talking about the signing of an agreement between the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of India and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia,” he added.

During the meeting, Russian representatives spoke about organising a national stand of India at the EEF 2019 exhibition space for a general presentation of the economic, industrial, tourism and cultural potential of the country to the Forum participants. Additionally, in order to strengthen interregional cooperation, the Russian side offered assistance in organising and holding the meeting of Prime Minister of India with the heads of the Far East regions, since it has already become a traditional part of Prime Minister’s visit to Russia.

“I attended several events organised by the Roscongress Foundation and I know for a fact that all of them are world-class gatherings offering strong expert opinions and international discussions. Thus, the Indian side seeks to attend each event with a representative delegation from both Government and business. The SPIEF and EEF dates are always on our calendars, and I believe every year we step up our presence at Russian major business forums. This year we are looking forward to attending the ‘Arctic: Territory of Dialogue’ International Arctic Forum since we recognise Russia’s aspiration to consolidate development issues between the Far East and the Arctic. We are quite interested in this topic. Our representatives will also attend the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi next week and of course the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum with the Delegation comprising of business representatives and Government of the Republic of India,” said Venkatesh Varma.

Both sides noted the efficiency of interaction between the Confederation of Indian Industry and the Roscongress Foundation, raised issues on the ‘I Love Russia’ Forum-Exhibition scheduled for May 2019 in Mumbai under the initiative of the Confederation of Indian Industry together with The Times Group, and also discussed the possibility of holding Russia–India events in Davos in 2020 at the neighbouring official residencies of Russia and India.