NEW DELHI: Ahead of their annual bilateral summit next month, India and Russia on Wednesday reaffirmed their intention to strengthen their strategic partnership and agreed to take forward collaborative ideas in diverse fields, including security, nuclear and space.
“We were unanimous in our intention to further strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership that exists between India and Russia,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said while addressing the media after co-chairing a meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin here.
“We made good progress in implementing the agreements that were signed in the last summit meeting held in Goa in October 2016,” she said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin held the last annual bilateral summit in Goa ahead of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit that India hosted.
The two leaders will hold the next summit in St Petersburg on June 1.
Sushma Swaraj said that in Wednesday’s meeting, both sides “agreed to work closely in the months ahead to take forward many of the collaborative ideas that emerged in diverse fields, including security, nuclear, space, disaster management, trade and economy, science and technology, and people-to-people linkages”.
She said that both sides also took stock of the forthcoming annual bilateral summit.
Stating that ties with Russia form “one of the most important pillars” of Indian foreign policy, Sushma Swaraj said that the two countries are celebrating the 70th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations this year. — IANS
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
