By Vijaya Lakshmi

Kazan (Russia), October 14 (HS): The second edition of the Russia-India Business Forum, titled “TIME: Russia-India, Mutual Efficiency,” is set to begin here on Thursday. More than 75 prominent diplomats, parliamentarians, ministers, business leaders, academics and film industry personalities from both countries are expected to participate in the event.

The forum aims to strengthen the strategic and economic partnership between India and Russia, with discussions focusing on bilateral trade, investment, technological cooperation and cultural exchange.

Indian Delegation to Include Representatives from Industry, Education and Healthcare

The forum, to be held in Kazan, the capital of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, will see the participation of Vinay Kumar, India’s Ambassador to Russia. Harish Khurana, a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, will also attend the event.

The delegation from Kerala includes Muhammad Abdul Kareem Faisal, Chairman of Emerald Group; Subhash Vasudevan of iBus Network; Rajeev Kumar of IACT Education; Aneesh Abraham of Invigro Nutriscience; and Abraham Mathew of Chinar Manpower.

Representatives from the business and industrial sectors include Sammy Kotwani, President of the Indian Business Alliance; Manpreet Singh of ICIB; Akashdeep Singh of the Indian Business Council; Dr Divesh Kumar, representing Pharmexcil; Karan Malhotra of Essar; Soheil Firoz Kajani of Bharat Freight Group; Ruperk Saraswat of India Glycols; and Manish Mohan of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

The healthcare sector will be represented by Dr Guru Prasad of Apollo Hospitals and Meet Patel of Reliance Formulation.

The academic delegation includes Professor Anshuman Shastri of Banasthali Vidyapith; Dr DVS Bhagavanulu of Vivekananda Global University; Dr Sant Kumar Chaudhary of the Shankara Group; Vibhuti Shankar and Puneet Agrawal of Indraprastha Engineering College; and Dr Yashraj Patil of D.Y. Patil Vidyapeeth.

Russian Ministers and Senior Officials to Participate

The Russian delegation is expected to include Alexey Pavlovsky, Director of the Second Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry; Senator and chess grandmaster Sergey Karjakin; Olga Zhilina, Deputy Head of Moscow; and representatives from the Orenburg region.

Tatarstan’s Minister of Sport, Vladimir Leonov; Minister of Transport, Farit Khanifov; Minister of Culture, Irada Ayupova; and Minister of Labour, Elmira Zaripova, are also expected to attend.

The banking sector will be represented by Ivan Nosov, Managing Director of Sberbank India, and Olga Sokolova of Natsinvestprombank.

Forum to Highlight Film and Cultural Cooperation

In addition to trade and investment, the forum will place special emphasis on strengthening cultural ties between India and Russia.

The Indian delegation will include Kannada film director P. Seshadri, an eight-time National Film Award winner; film critic Dr Rvitha Dutta, associated with FIPRESCI; directors Deepankar Prakash and Dr Abhilash Babu; and Sarfaraz Alam Safu. Indian film producer Karen Mirzoyan will also participate.

According to the organisers, the forum will provide a platform to explore new trade and investment opportunities and promote cooperation in technology, pharmaceuticals, education, logistics, defence, healthcare and cultural exchange.

The event is expected to facilitate partnerships among businesses, institutions and experts from both countries, opening up new avenues for collaboration and giving fresh impetus to bilateral economic relations. It is also expected to contribute to the further strengthening of the broader strategic partnership between India and Russia.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar