Shri Ashwani Kumar, Hon'ble Minister of State for Planning, Parliamentary Affairs, S&T and Earth Sciences is leading a parliamentary delegation to Moscow, St. Petersburg & Sochi from 4-9 May 2011. On 05 May 2011, Shri Ashwani Kumar had a meeting with indologists from various prestigious academic Institutes of Russia and held discussions with them on Indo-Russian relations in the realm of strategic partnership that encompasses cultural and academic exchanges.
During this meeting, Shri Kumar described India-Russia strategic partnership as the defining partnership of the 21st Century and laid strong emphasis on the emotional connect which exists between the people of the two countries. Shri Kumar commented that the conscience of a nation is defined by its academics and their opinions and contributions should be valued more. He held discussions with the Russian indologists on the steps which needed to be taken by India to re-energize the special relationship between India & Russia and to make it more visible and proactive. Shri Kumar also recognised the need for India to stand with Russia on key global issues and sought frank opinion from the indologists on this aspect. The discussions dealt with the common problems facing the world community today like international terrorism, climate change, nuclear proliferation, pandemics etc and the measures needed to combat these problems. Shri Kumar lamented that pursuit of academic excellence had become a casualty of consumerist society and laid emphasis on the need to preserve the academic heritage of studying both applied and pure sciences. Shri Kumar also expressed keen interest in the opinions and views prevailing amongst the younger generation in Russia with regard to India-Russia relations.
