A Parliamentary Delegation led by H.E. Mr. Vladimir Yakushev, First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, called on the Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Harivansh, in Parliament today.

Welcoming the delegation, Shri Harivansh expressed his pleasure on Mr. Yakushev’s first visit to India and noted that his appointment as the Head of the Friendship Group of the Federation Council for cooperation with Rajya Sabha signifies the high-priority that Russia places on parliamentary cooperation with India. He underlined that India and Russia share a tradition of rich and fruitful exchanges at the parliamentary level.

Recalling recent interactions, the Deputy Chairman noted that the Chairman of the State Duma, H.E. Mr. Vyacheslav Volodin, visited India in February 2025. He also referred to the visit of an all-party parliamentary delegation led by Ms. Kanimozhi Karunanidhi to Russia in May 2025 in the context of the Pahalgam terror attack and India’s Operation Sindoor, and expressed gratitude for Russia’s support to the joint resolve in countering terrorism.

He emphasized that the visit of the present delegation would further strengthen parliamentary cooperation and contribute to the growing engagement between the two countries, noting that bilateral interactions have been progressing in an encouraging manner.

Referring to recent developments, Shri Harivansh noted that the successful 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit held in December 2025 during the State visit of H.E. President Vladimir Putin to India, and stated that the agreements and MoUs signed in various fields have opened new avenues of cooperation, while strengthening the existing ones. He added that interaction at the ministerial and official levels also continues to develop and expand.

Highlighting bilateral cooperation, he stated that trade and economic cooperation continue to be an important pillar of the relationship. He noted that bilateral trade has grown rapidly to around 70 billion US Dollars, more than double the annual bilateral trade target of 30 billion US Dollars which was to be achieved by the year 2025. He further stated that both sides remain hopeful that the goal of 100 billion US Dollars worth of annual bilateral trade by 2030 will be achieved, which was set by the two leaders in 2024.

Highlighting cultural linkages, Shri Harivansh noted that the exposition of Sacred Relics of Shakyamuni Buddha from the National Museum of India in Kalmykia region in October saw an unprecedented response from the Kalmyk people, stating that this is testament to the close old historical cultural linkages between the two countries.

On multilateral cooperation, he stated that India and Russia enjoy vibrant ties in the multilateral domain, with substantial cooperation in the United Nations, G20, BRICS and SCO formats. He noted that India holds the Chairmanship of BRICS this year and appreciated Russia’s support to India’s BRICS Presidency, expressing that India looks forward to welcoming Russian delegations for various BRICS meetings in India, especially for the BRICS Parliamentary Forum.

Emphasizing parliamentary cooperation, Shri Harivansh stated that the level of cooperation between the Parliaments of both countries has been very good. He noted that the Inter-Parliamentary Commission has played an important role in facilitating cooperation between the Parliaments and informed that the India-Russia Parliamentary Friendship Group on the Indian side has been constituted in February 2026, expressing hope that the new Co-Chairs and members from both sides will meet soon to resume fruitful exchanges.

The Deputy Chairman emphasized that both sides can look at working towards greater engagement between young and women parliamentarians, which would go a long way in strengthening bilateral ties.

Concluding the meeting, the Deputy Chairman stated that India and Russia must continue their efforts to strengthen parliamentary cooperation and further deepen their multifaceted partnership.

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