The year 2009 witnessed a series of important high level visits of Indian leaders to Russia. It was, therefore, apt that the last month of the year was the occasion for the official visit by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to Moscow from 6-8 December to take part in the bilateral Annual Summit. He held discussions with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on various important bilateral issues. Joint Declaration titled ‘Deepening the Strategic Partnership to meet Global Challenges’ was released. At the Summit, both sides expressed strong interest in strengthening the economic dimension of relations. Energy, Information Technology and Communications, and Pharmaceuticals were identified as the new thrust areas for cooperation. The second meeting of India-Russia CEOs’ Council was held during the visit, which was addressed by Prime Ministers of both countries.

President Medvedev greetings
President Medvedev sent New Year Messages to both President and Prime Minister, which assessed the development of bilateral ties in 2009 positively and mentioned the visits of President and Prime Minister to Russia during the year. Prime Minister Putin sent a New Year message to Prime Minister of India.

President Medvedev sent congratulatory messages to President and Prime Minister on the occasion of Republic Day.
President Medvedev, in the message addressed to President Patil, said that “in Russia we highly value our traditionally close and friendly relations with India; our peoples are bound by feelings of sincere affection, mutual respect and trust”. In his message to PM, he emphasized the importance of Strategic Partnership between the two countries and said “it is symbolic that the Indian people celebrate their country’s anniversary along with the 10th anniversary of the Strategic Partnership Declaration between Russia and the Republic of India. This document became the solid foundation for the development of multifaceted bilateral ties and has allowed us to work together to bring them to a new level”.

President Medvedev sent a congratulatory message to President Patil on her birthday on 19 December.

Cultural Events Round up
Several Cultural events were organised by the Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Centre of the Embassy as part of the ‘Year of India in Russia’. The City Administration of Protvino celebrated the Festival of India at the House of Culture, Protvino, Sepukhovsky Region, on 2 December. JNCC extended its support to the Festival by way of presenting a performance by a local Kathak Group “Chakkar” led by JNCC teacher Ms. Ekatrina Selivastova. Local artistes presented Russian traditional dances and music and Russian children of Lyceum No. 2 presented an episode from the Indian epic Ramayana.

International Conference Held
An international conference “Gerasim Lebedev and His Time (1749-1817)” was organized by the City Administration of Yaroslavl on 15- December. Prof. Dwijendra Tripathi, IIM Ahmedabad, Prof. Archan Sarkar, Kolkata University, Dr. Lily Banerjee, Kolkata University and Mr. Gautam Ghosh, Gorki Sadan, Kolkata participated in the conference.

Indian ‘Navy Day’ celebrations
On the occasion of the Indian ‘Navy Day’ on 7 December, a performance by a local Kathak Group “Chakkar” led by JNCC teacher Ms. Ekatrina Selivostova was presented in Severodvinsk where an Indian Navy Warship Overseeing Team is presently deployed. Programmes of dance and music were also presented by local artistes.

Kathak dance Performance
Shri Praveen Gangani, JNCC Kathak teacher along with his students presented a Kathak dance performance at the opening of a new Exhibition on Nicolai and Svetoslav Roerich at the State Oriental Museum, Moscow on 18 December.

Journal on Indian Literature released
A special issue of the journal “Foreign Literature” devoted to contemporary Indian literature was released at a special ceremony during the Moscow Annual Non-Fiction Book Fair on 5 December at the Central House of Artists. Mr. Alexander Livergant, Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Foreign Literature’ monthly and Dr. Mira Salganik, who contributed to the compilation, thanked the ICCR and the Embassy of India for the support extended for publication of the special issue.

Holi –visits
Shri Ram Madhav Varanasi, Member, Centre Executive, RSS, along with Swami Paramatmananda Saraswati visited Moscow on 15-16 December to explore the possibility of inter-faith dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church. They met Father Philip Ryabykh, Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Danilov Monastery in Moscow on 15 December 2009.