External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will co-chair the 27th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov in Moscow today. He will also meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and exchange perspectives on regional and global issues.

Dr Jaishankar arrived in Moscow yesterday on a two-day official visit to Russia. He is visiting Russia at the invitation of First Deputy Prime Minister of Russian Federation Denis Manturov. India and Russia have a longstanding and time-tested partnership. Since the signing of the “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000, India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas, including political, security, defence, trade and economy, science & technology, culture, and people-to-people ties.

Under the Strategic Partnership, several institutionalised dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow-up on cooperation activities. The India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission (IRIGC) has two divisions – Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) and Military & Military-Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC).