The meeting took place on the sidelines of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in New Delhi.
As part of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko held talks with Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President of the Republic of India, Chairman of the Council of States (Rajya Sabha).
The Federation Council Speaker thanked Mr Dhankhar for the outstanding organisation of the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Forum. She emphasised that India remained one of Russia’s key partners in Asia, and Moscow and New Delhi were currently holding multi-level trustful political dialogue, based on regular contacts between the leaders of the two countries.
The meeting participants discussed ways to strengthen privileged strategic partnership in relation to legislation. “I believe that one of the important responsibilities of our parliaments is to support and provide for the implementation of the agreements reached at the highest level,” Valentina Matvienko said.
The two parties also discussed the activity of friendship groups that were created in both parliaments. Jagdeep Dhankhar praised the work of the interparliamentary commission. “The launch of the restored friendship group in our lower chamber will pave the way for better interaction between the two countries. We are going to work on a long-term basis, including with the aim of involving young people in parliamentary activities.”
Valentina Matvienko also noted the growth of Russia-India mutual trade in recent years. “We have tremendous potential for further mutually beneficial cooperation and boosting trade. Many Russian companies show great interest in working on the Indian market,” the Federation Council Speaker pointed out.
Jagdeep Dhankhar confirmed that India also paid a great deal of attention to the enhancement of economic interaction. He noted that the goal of increasing mutual trade to $30 billion by 2025, set by the leaders of the two countries, was reached ahead of schedule, in 2022, and he called for a focus on increasing the flow of goods and services between Russia and India.