External Affairs Minister Shri S. M. Krishna will lead a delegation to Moscow from October 20-22, 2009 for the 15th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC). The IRIGC is co-chaired by the External Affairs Minister, Shri S. M. Krishna from the Indian side and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. Sergei Sobyanin from the Russian side. A Protocol summing up the discussions of the IRIGC will be signed during the visit.

The 14th session of the IRIGC was held in New Delhi on December 3, 2008. This will be Shri Krishna’s first visit to Russia since he took office as EAM and he will call on the President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Dmitry Medvedev. He will also hold bilateral discussions with his Russian counterpart H.E. Mr. Sergei Lavrov.

Thereafter, EAM will visit Tashkent on October 22 – 23, 2009 at the invitation of H.E. Mr Vladimir Norov, Foreign Minister of Republic of Uzbekistan. During the visit, EAM will call on H.E. Mr Islam Karimov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He will hold talks with his counterpart H.E. Mr. Vladimir Norov, on bilateral, regional and global issues of importance. External Affairs Minister will also pay his respects at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial and inaugurate the India Centre at Al Beruni Institute of Oriental Studies. Besides, EAM will attend a reception hosted by the Indian Ambassador for the Indian community.

The Ninth Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Republic of India, the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China was held on 27 October 2009 in Bangalore.

India's S.M. Krishna (centre) welcomes his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi (right) and Russian Sergei Lavrov

The Ministers noted the ongoing trilateral cooperation between India, Russia and China and explored new avenues for deepening and strengthening this interaction on various issues for the benefit of the people of the three countries and peace and stability in the region.

Despite the impact of the international financial crisis, the pace of development of the three countries has improved contributing to faster growth among them. Enhanced engagement among them strengthens their influence on the process of democratisation of international relations and development of multipolar world order reflecting the diversity of world cultures and civilizations.

While reviewing the implementation of the Trilateral initiatives, the Ministers noted with satisfaction the holding of the trilateral meeting of experts of India, Russia & China in the area of Disaster Mitigation and Relief held in Samara, Russia on 28 July 2008. The prospective areas of cooperation in this important area were identified as – interaction between research institutes; exchange of experts/specialists; exchange of experience in practical response to major disasters; exchange of information between the National Disaster Management Authorities on major emergencies; training of instructors/specialists; and holding joint conferences and seminars. The next meeting of this group of experts is due to be held in China in 2009.

The Ministers welcomed the holding of the next meeting of the India-Russia-China trilateral expert group on agricultural cooperation, scheduled to be held in November/December 2009 in New Delhi. The Ministers noted that according to the understanding arrived at in the first meeting of trilateral group of experts on Health and Medicine held in India in September 2008, the next meeting of the trilateral group of experts on Health and Medicine would be held in 2010 in Russia.

The Ministers reviewed the trilateral interaction among the business communities of the three countries and discussed the 2nd Trilateral Business Conference held on 17-19 September 2009 in Changchun, China. They noted that interaction among business communities was increasing and areas like pharmaceuticals, infrastructure, IT and energy have been the focus areas. The Ministers discussed ways in which the meetings of this forum could be more meaningful to the business communities in the time ahead so that new opportunities may be grasped to expand trade and investment. They looked forward to the next meeting in Russia. Full Text

India's S.M. Krishna (centre) welcomes his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi (right) and Russian Sergei Lavrov

The Fifteenth Session of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (hereafter referred to as Commission) on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held on 21 October 2009 in Moscow.

The Russian Side was led by the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation – The Head of The Secretariat of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Chairman of the Russian side of the Commission H.E. Mr. S. S. Sobyanin. The Indian Side was led by the Minister of External Affairs and the Chairman of the Indian side of the Commission, H.E. Mr. S. M. Krishna.

The discussions were held in the spirit of traditional friendship and mutual understanding and the Sides decided the following:

While noting with satisfaction positive development of Russia-India trade, economic & investment cooperation under financial & economic crisis conditions, the Sides expressed availability of necessary prerequisites for increasing mutual turnover to USD 10 billion in 2010. The sides took note of the positive trends in bilateral trade witnessed even at these difficult times of the international financial crisis. Bilateral trade turnover in 2008 was USD 6.95 billion and in the period January-August 2009, bilateral trade increased by about 10% in comparison to corresponding period of previous year. Both Sides agreed to take further steps for bilateral cooperation to reach the level corresponding to the existing potential and increasing Russia–India trade to USD 20 billion by 2015.
The Sides will implement proactively the decisions taken during highest level visits, including the visit of the Prime Minister of India H.E. Dr. Manmohan Singh to Russia on 11-12 November 2007, the visit of the President of Russia H.E. Mr. D.A. Medvedev to India on 4-6 December 2008, and the visit of President of India H. E. Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil to Russia on 2-6 September 2009.

The Sides noted the successful holding of numerous events in the context of the Year of Russia in India and the Year of India in Russia, and came to an agreement about the continuation of the practice of holding theme days, decades, months devoted to the spheres of economy, science, culture, education and cooperation on the level of regions and cities of both countries.

The Sides noted progress in cooperation in the areas of power, including nuclear energy, oil and gas, space, telecommunications, metallurgy, machinery and automobile industry, aircraft building, banking and financial services, construction of highways and pipelines, air transport service, science and technology, tourism and underlined that there is considerable scope for cooperation in sectors such as minerals development, railway and water transport, aircraft and shipbuilding, information technologies, biotechnology, nano-technology, construction, fertilizers and chemicals, pharmaceuticals, agricultural and processed food products, ready made garments and textiles, gems and jewelry. Full Text