Delhi government says wants to establish youth exchanges with Russian cities

NEW DELHI, March 27. /TASS/. The New Delhi state government aims to develop cooperation with Russian regions, a state government official said on Friday. The upstart Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man Party, which stormed to an electoral victory in local assembly elections last month and subsequently formed the government of India's capital city, Delhi, will soon put forward concrete proposals for bilateral partnership, said Sandeep Kumar, Delhi’s new minister for women and child development. Kumar told the inaugural Russia-India youth summit: "Relations with Russia are core to India’s foreign policy. Bilateral ties have now reached a totally new level in almost all areas, including trade, science and technology, and culture. We develop political contacts and security partnership." Delhi will soon start working on "a youth exchange programme with Moscow and St. Petersburg", Kumar said, noting plans to include "no less than 50 percent of women" in youth delegations. "We will also consider launching teacher exchanges between schools and universities," he added. The youth summit, organised by the Russian Youth Union and Russian federal cultural agency Rossotrudnichestvo’s Indian office, started in New Delhi on March 25 bringing together more than 300 people aged between 18 and 35. "The summit is a suitable platform to discuss prospects for developing political and humanitarian contacts among young people of our countries," Kumar told the gathering. "Such meetings should receive strong backing from authorities," he added. Read more