Moscow, March 22 External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will virtually address a conference on Monday, where experts from both sides will discuss navigating the challenging situation amid tensions in the Gulf region.
The one-day conference, organized by the Embassy of India in Moscow and the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC), is particularly significant considering the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Gulf region on the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).
Bandar Anzali in Iran, which suffered damage due to a missile strike by the US and Israel on March 18, is a major port on the corridor that is a crucial link between Mumbai and St Petersburg, bypassing the Suez Canal, to boost trade between Asia and Europe.
Both India and Russia have placed their hopes on the corridor to boost bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2030, as agreed upon by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin at their New Delhi summit in December.
The conference, "Russia and India: Towards a New Agenda for Bilateral Relations," is a second attempt to chart a roadmap for enhancing political, economic, and cultural cooperation between the two strategic partners.
According to the schedule published by RIAC, the conference will be organized around three thematic blocks: political, economic, and cultural-humanitarian, with government and public figures, representatives of the business and scientific communities attending the event.
Jaishankar and Lavrov will virtually address the conference, where two former Indian ambassadors to Russia, representing different think-tanks, are expected to elaborate on the Indian perspective on the rapidly changing global situation, RIAC said.
Besides discussing the role of Russia and India in the changing global order, a session is likely to feature discussions on the role of the two countries' friends and partners, including Iran, Israel, the US, and other Gulf states, in the context of the ongoing war in West Asia.
Connectivity has been a bottleneck since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and INSTC is expected to address this issue, which has a direct impact on mobility and migration between India and Russia, the Indian Business Association in Moscow said.