Anand Sharma to attend St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

New Delhi, June 16 (ANI): Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will undertake a two-day visit to Russia from Friday, where he will address the Plenary Session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum along with Russian President Medvedev.

During his visit, Sharma will be accompanied by a high-level business delegation from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Sharma is expected to call on Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and have substantive bilateral meetings with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sobyanin, Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina and Minister of Industry and Trade Viktor Khristenko.

Sharma's visit to Russia follows Putin's highly successful visit to India in March this year.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will be convening an India-Russia Business Dialogue, for the first time, signalling a growing economic engagement between the two countries.

The bilateral trade between the two countries in 2009 stood at US dollar 7.4 billion, registering a growth of eight percent over the previous year and a target has been set at US dollar 20 billion by 2015. (ANI)