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Call for better Government, business interaction

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW MAY 13. The External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, arrived here today for a regular meeting of the Indo-Russian apex economic body and top-level political interactions. During a six-day visit, Mr. Sinha will co-chair the ninth annual session of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation.

The Russian delegation to IRIGC will be led by the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Ilya Klebanov. Mr. Sinha will meet the Russian Prime Minister, Mikhail Kasyanov, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Alexei Kudrin, and the Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov.

He will also visit St. Petersburg to oversee preparations for the city's 300th birthday celebrations, to be attended by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, along with other world leaders. However, Mr. Sinha's first meeting in Moscow will be with the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who is also visiting Moscow this week.

India's Ambassador to Russia, K. Raghunath, ruled out any political implications in the fact that Mr. Sinha would meet the U.S. official before interacting with the Russian hosts, describing this scheduling as "a matter of practical convenience.''

He will discuss with Mr. Powell "matters of immediate bilateral concern,'' as well as the situation in South Asia, Iraq and other international issues, the Indian envoy said. The focus of Indo-Russian talks will be on economic cooperation, Mr. Raghunath told Indian mediapersons.

He emphasised the need to refocus the role of the Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission to provide a more operational connection between the Government and business in both countries. ``We want the IRIGC to mobilise and energise business-to-business contacts in our two countries,'' the Indian Ambassador said.

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