Eastern Economic Forum

• 11 Jul 2019

Russia has conveyed to India that it has not invited Pakistan’s Prime Minister to the Eastern Economic Forum, to be held from 4^th- 6^th September, 2019 in Vladivostok, where Indian Prime Minister has been invited as the chief guest.

• In a build up to the Prime Minister’s Vladivostok visit, both the countries held a Strategic Economic Dialogue in New Delhi on 10^th July, 2019.

Eastern Economic Forum

• The Eastern Economic Forum was established by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation in the year 2015.
• It takes place each year in Vladivostok, a city in Russia.
• It serves as a platform for the discussion of key issues in the world economy, regional integration, and the development of new industrial and technological sectors, as well as of the global challenges facing Russia and other nations.
• The Forum business programme includes a number of business dialogues with leading partner countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and with ASEAN, a key integration organization of dynamically developing nations in Southeast Asia.
• Over the years, it has emerged as an international platform for discussing the strategy for developing political, economic and cultural ties between Russia and Asia Pacific.

India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue

• The India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue (IRSED) was established following a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation during the 19^th edition of the annual India-Russia Bilateral Summit in the year 2018.
• The First India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue was held in St. Petersburg in the year 2018.
• The recent one is the second such dialogue and focusses on six core areas of cooperation, namely,
  
  • Development of transport infrastructure and technologies;
  • Development of Agriculture and Agro-Processing sector;
  • Small and medium business support;
  • Digital transformation and frontier technologies;
  • Cooperation in trade, banking, finance, and Industry;
  • Tourism & Connectivity.

India-Russia Relations

• India-Russia cooperation is based on the solid foundations of the 1971 Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of India and the USSR, 1993 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Republic of India and the Russian Federation, 2000 Declaration on Strategic Partnership between the Republic of India and the Russian Federation and 2010 Joint Statement elevating the Partnership to a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. 
• Cooperation between India and Russia spans across the whole gamut of sectors and rests on the fundamental pillars of political and strategic cooperation, military and security cooperation, cooperation in the spheres of economy, energy, industry, science and technology, and cultural and humanitarian cooperation.