On 28th August 2024, the 2nd meeting of the joint Russian-Indian Commission on the Cooperation in the Field of Emergency Management was held in Moscow, Russia.
- The Indian delegation was led by Minister of State (MoS) Nityanand Rai, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India (GoI) at the meeting.
Key People: Vinay Kumar, Ambassador of India to Russia was also present with the Indian delegation which included other members: Rajendra Singh, Member and Head of Department (HOD) of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, Additional Secretary, MHA, and other senior officials of MHA.
Note:
i.India hosted the 1st meeting of the Indo-Russian Joint Commission on the Cooperation in the Field of Emergency Management in New Delhi (Delhi) in 2016.
ii.India will host the 3rd meeting of Indo-Russian Joint Commission on the Cooperation in the Field of Emergency Management in 2026.
Working plan of joint Russian-Indian Commission on the Cooperation in the field of Emergency Management for 2025-26
India and Russia signed the working plan of joint Russian-Indian Commission on the Cooperation in the field of Emergency Management for 2025-26 at the 2nd meeting of the joint Russian-Indian Commission in the field of Emergency Management in Moscow, Russia.
- Both the countries agreed to implement this working plan during 2025-2026 and also decided to continue sharing of the best practices and lesson learnt in the field of disaster management.
Signatories: The working plan was signed by MoS Nityanand Rai, MHA and Kurenkov Aleksandr Vyacheslavovich, Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM of Russia).
Significance:
This will boost the bilateral efforts and pave the way for up-gradation, mutual assistance in improving Early Warning Systems (EWS) and capacity building of both the countries in emergency preparedness, prevention, response and planning.
Key Points:
i.This meeting holds great significance as it frames a strategy for executing the previous agreements between India and Russia, such as:
- Inter-Government Agreement (IGA) for cooperation in the field of Emergency Management in December, 2010 and Regulation to establish the Indo-Russian Joint Commission for Cooperation (2013) in prevention and elimination of consequence of emergency situations.
ii.During the meeting, leaders of both countries deliberated on three specific issues such as:
- Use of Space monitoring technologies for risks forecasting and emergency response.
- Exchange of experiences of responding to large-scale disasters.
- Cooperation in the field of training of fire and rescue specialists.
iii.During the meeting, MoS Nityanand Rai reaffirmed India’s commitment towards Sendai Framework for substantial mitigation of disaster risks in the country and PM Narendra Modi’s 10-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction.
About Russia:
President– Vladimir Putin
Currency– Russian Ruble
Capital– Moscow
