G-20 Speakers Summit: RS Dy Chair Harivansh discusses key issues with Russian counterpart

On Saturday, October 9, the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh met Konstantin Kosachev, Russia's Deputy Speaker of the Council of Federation. Both leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 speakers' Summit in Italy's capital, Rome and discussed key issues and common interests in depth. Kosachev emphasised the need of strengthening ties with India and invited Harivansh to visit Russia for Upper House to Upper House dialogue for greater Parliamentary coordination, reported news agency ANI. 

The response to the social and employment crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, rebooting economic growth in terms of social and economic environmental sustainability, and 'Sustainability and food security after the COVID-19 pandemic' were among the topics discussed at the seventh G20 Parliamentary Speakers Summit in Rome. The Speakers Summit took place in Rome on October 7-8. From India, an eight-member legislative delegation, including the Speaker of the Lok Sabha Om Birla and Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh, attended the Summit. On Thursday, October 7, Birla met Reiner Haseloff, president of Germany's Bundesrat, and discussed various topics, including increasing parliamentary interaction between both countries. 

Birla meets his German and Dutch counterparts

Birla also met with Jan Anthonie Bruijn, the head of the Netherlands Senate, during the Summit and discussed ways to improve parliamentary collaboration between the two countries. Birla stated that India considers the Netherlands as an important economic and political partner. "I am confident that our relationship will continue to remain strong in the future," he tweeted. Speaking at the Summit, the Lok Sabha Speaker also expressed his desire to have meaningful and constructive discussions about global issues. 

Last month, India and Russia held NSA-level talks and discussed a wide range of issues related to Afghanistan. During the meeting, both countries agreed to coordinate their approaches in multilateral formats regarding the Afghan settlement and stressed the need to prevent escalation of violence in the war-torn country. Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev discussed both countries' efforts to create conditions for a peaceful settlement based on an intra-Afghan dialogue. Besides, both countries had also discussed other issues like future bilateral cooperation among security agencies, including upgrading consultations and exchanging information.

(With ANI inputs) 

Image: ANI