Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yury Petrovich Trutnev visited India this week in order to help both the countries to prepare grounds for the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vladivostok in early September to participate in the fifth edition of the Eastern Economic Forum as the Chief Guest.
Trutnev, who is also the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation, led a high-level delegation to India from June 15-19.
His visit also provided an 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 the development in Russia's Far East region.
Russian Far East, located on the transport corridor between Asia and Europe, has unique geographical advantages and untapped energy potential.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his two-day visit to Bishkek last week to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Orgsation (SCO) summit, held a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and also accepted the latter's invitation to be the Chief Guest at the Eastern Economic Forum, scheduled to be held in Vladivostok in early September.
In the meeting, the two leaders reportedly decided to further widen the scope of their economic partnership in the sectors of energy, Arctic region, transfer of technology, joint projects under 'Make in India' initiative and manpower.
"We are getting ready for the Eastern Economic forum. We hope that Prime Minister Modi will be the main guest of the forum. We will try to do as much as possible before the meeting of our two leaders," Trutnev told reporters here on Wednesday.
The Russian 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.
Among his official engagements in New Delhi, Trutnev held meetings with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.
During the meeting, both sides agreed to work together to promote their bilateral economic engagement in the Russian Far East.
The Russian Minister also had an interaction with Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar. He also attended a round-table discussion involving representatives of leading Indian Universities to foster a 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 compes having business interests in the Russian Far East.
Trutnev had earlier visited India in March 2017. His visit is likely to be followed by an Indo-Russian Strategic Economic Dialogue here in July.
( With inputs from ANI )