India-Russia Relations: May Update
May 2008, Russia |
Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia
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While May was a busy month politically for Russia, witnessing the handing over of charge by incumbent Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin to Mr. Dmitry Medvedev- democratically elected to the position, it was also a busy month when it came to India-Russia relations.
The President of India and the Prime Minister of India sent their letters of felicitations to the new President of the Russian Federation on his assumption of charge on May 7, 2008. The Prime Minister of India also wrote felicitating Mr. Vladimir Putin on his appointment as the new Prime Minister of Russia on May 7, 2008.
Following the formation of the new Russian Government, congratulatory letters were sent by the External Affairs Minister of India, the Minister for Commerce and Industries of India, and the Minister for Tourism and Culture to their Russian counterparts. Mr. M.K. Narayanan, the National Security Adviser of India, sent a letter of felicitations to his Russian counterpart Mr. Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, and greetings to Mr. Sergei Ivanov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs of India
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Significantly, the month witnessed the visit of His Excellency Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, the Hon’ble Minister for External Affairs of India, to Yekaterinburg, Russia. The visit took place during May 14-16, 2008, and the trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China took place in that city on May 15. Besides, this was followed by a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) on May 16, 2008.
During his visit, Mr. Pranab Mukherjee had separate bilateral meetings with Mr. Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of Russia, and with Mr. Yang Jiechi, the Foreign Minister of China. He also met Mr. E.E. Rossel, the Governor of the Sverdlovsk region of Russia and discussed the various facets of India’s bilateral cooperation with the region. Governor Rossel briefed Mr. Mukherjee on the region’s cooperation with India, and referred in particular to the activities of the Indian automobile giant Tata Motors in the region. He expressed happiness at the company’s plans to expand its production in the Urals region. Both dignitaries agreed on the need for enhanced economic cooperation in the high technology sphere.
Joint Communiqués were issued following both the trilateral India-Russia-China Foreign Ministers meeting, and the meeting of the BRIC Foreign Ministers. These communiqués may be accessed at the Embassy’s website, together with a few photographs, for the reading/ viewing pleasure of the visitors to the site.
Media coverage of events
During May 2008 was significant, and was mainly in the context of the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of India, Russia, and China, and of the BRIC Foreign Ministers in Yekaterinburg. Besides, while Russia’s ‘Kultura’ TV Channel dispatched a Producer and a TV crew to India for preparation of a documentary on ‘Indian Yoga and Meditation’, a film crew from Messrs Tasvir Communications, New Delhi visited Moscow to shoot an Ministry of External affairs (MEA)-funded documentary titled ‘Footsteps into the Future: Indo-Russian Relations in the 21st Century’. Indian and Russian Media also highlighted the award of two prestigious national (Padma) awards- the Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan- to two prominent Russian nationals- Messrs Gennady Pechnikov (for his well-known performance in the role of Lord Rama) and to late Ambassador Yuli Vorontsov (Russia’s former Ambassador to India –awarded posthumously).
In India, the reputed ‘India Today’ weekly for May 13-19, 2008 had “The New Russia” as its cover story. Mr. Raj Chengappa, Managing Editor of India Today traveled to Moscow to do the piece, and the story can be accessed at www.indiatoday.com. Coverage was also in the context of two specific cultural events that were a part of the Year of Russia in India in the last week of April 2008- performance by the Academic Chamber Orchestra ‘Musica Viva’, and a Choir performance by the ‘Sirin Ensemble’. (Performance by the reknowned Igor Moiseev Ballet group at the Siri Fort auditorium in New Delhi is scheduled for June 12).
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Eighth India, Russia, China Foreign Ministers’ meeting held in Russia
The Eighth Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India was held on May 14-15, 2008 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Joint Communiqué on the outcome of the Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India was issued here are the highlights:
The Eighth Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India was held on May 14-15, 2008 in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The Ministers noted with satisfaction the increasing interaction between Russia, China and India, fast growing, multi ethnic countries with rich history and culture. It was underlined that trilateral interaction was contributing to the shaping of a multi polar, stable and harmonious world, to democratization of international relations and a more just and rational international order. The Ministers positively assessed the efforts made by the three Parties to build up the potential of cooperation in accordance with the outcome of the Harbin Meeting on October 24, 2007.
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Lafarge to invest US$ 150 million to set up 10 RMC plants in India
Investments in special economic zones (SEZs) across the country are likely to touch around Rs 2.84 lakh crore by December 2009. These SEZs are expected to create around 2.1 million additional jobs. Exports are likely to touch around Rs 1 lakh crore. In his special address at the Nasscom-Elcot interactive session in Chennai on Friday B Vijayan, development commissioner, Madras Export Processing Zone-SEZ, said at the end of 2007-08 around Rs 71,000 crore was invested and around 311,000 employment opportunities were created across the country.
Exports from SEZs increased 78.1 per cent to Rs 67,300 crore from Rs 37,787 crore compared with exports from MPEZ-SEZ, which increased 28.6 per cent to Rs 3,168.53 crore from Rs 2,462.40 crore. Around 453 SEZs have formally been approved by the commerce ministry, of which 282 are IT/ITeS/electronic hardware. He added that of the total approved SEZs, the southern region accounted for 44 per cent, west 31 per cent, north 19 per cent and east the remaining six per cent. In the south, 182 SEZs have formally been approved of which 59 are in Tamil Nadu. In Tamil Nadu as on March 31, around Rs 5,440.09 crore was invested in SEZs and 52,177 direct employment opportunities were created.
Source : Business Standard |
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