New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev and discussed matters concerning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum.
“Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District led a high-level delegation to India from June 15 to 19. The delegation included senior officials from the Russian Ministry for Far East Development, Far East Investment and Export Agency, representatives of Russian regions, industry representatives and academia,” an MEA release said here.
Among his official engagements here, the visiting Deputy Prime Minister held meetings with Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.
The visiting dignitary also had an interaction with Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog.
Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev also attended a round-table discussion involving representatives of leading Indian Universities to foster closer partnership between Indian and Russian Far Eastern Universities in the field of science and education.
Trutnev also travelled to Mumbai where he interacted with prominent Indian industry representatives and had meetings with Indian companies having business interests in the Russian Far East, the release said.
The visit was undertaken to help both sides prepare ground for the visit of prime minister to Vladivostok in early September to participate in the 5th edition of the Eastern Economic Forum as the Chief Guest of the event.
“The visit also provided opportunity to explore bilateral cooperation in the sectors of Diamond-processing, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Coal and mining, Agro-processing and Tourism which have been identified as the priority areas for development in the Russian Far East. Both sides agreed to work together to promote their bilateral economic engagement in the Russian Far East,” the statement said.
On June 13, on the sidelines of SCO Summit at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin invited the Prime Minister (Modi) formally to be the “main guest” at the Eastern Economic Forum at the Vladivostok in early September.
“EAM Dr S Jaishankar met with Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia Yury Trutnev. Discussed various aspects of India-Russia relationship, including the visit by PM Narendra Modi to Vladivostok for the Eastern Economic Forum,” MEA spokesman Raveesh Kumar tweeted. According to Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale, “Prime Minister has warmly accepted this invitation. So this will be a bilateral visit”.
Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev had earlier visited India in March 2017. (UNI)
