Indian Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi & Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to establish a ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ at the Foreign & Defence Minister level between the two countries. It is expected to boost the Bilateral Strategic partnership between India & Russia.
- Russia is the 4th Country & 1st Non-Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) member country with which India has established the ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ mechanism.
- India already has this ‘2+2 Ministerial Dialogue’ mechanism with 3 countries namely – US, Japan & Australia (members of QUAD).
- The Establishment of the mechanism was announced after a telephonic conversation between PM of India Narendra Modi and President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.
Key Points
i.Russia & India agreed to review bilateral cooperation in the areas of space exploration, renewable energy sector & hydrogen economy.
- Defence is the key pillar of partnership between the two countries, Russia has trained 4 Indian astronauts for the Gaganyaan mission, which is India’s 1st manned mission to space.
- Russian President Putin is set to visit India in 2021 for the annual India Russia bilateral summit.
ii.Russia has so far sent 22 tonnes of equipment, including 20 oxygen production units, 75 ventilators, 150 medical monitors and 200,000 packs of medicine.
iii.Sputnik-V
- Recently the Committee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) of India had approved ‘Sputnik-V’, a Russian coronavirus vaccine for use in India.
- It is the 3rd Vaccine that India has given approval after ‘Covishield’ produced by Serum Institute of India (SII) & ‘Covaxin’ produced by Bharat Biotech.
- The Russian vaccine will be manufactured in India for use in India, Russia and other countries.
- It is set to arrive in India in April, 2021.
Recent Related News:
i.On October 27, 2020, India hosted the third India-United States (US) 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi where India side was represented by Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister) Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the US side was represented by the then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the then Secretary of Defense Mark Thomas Esper.
About Russia
Capital– Moscow
Currency– Russian Rouble
President– Vladimir Putin
