MUMBAI: A Russian Delegation led by the Russian Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, H.E Alexey Volin, including the Ambassador of Russian Federation to India, H.E. Nikolay Kudashev and other delegates met Ministry of I&B secretary Amit Khare on Friday.

It was mutually agreed during the meeting that an Annual Indo-Russian Forum for Media Cooperation be organized alternately in India and Russia in order to institutionalize the process of cooperation between the two countries in the media and entertainment sector. Television, news agencies, digital distribution platforms, new media, news gathering, co-production of programmes, sharing of content and exchange of professionals were identified as possible areas of collaboration.

The need to forge strong connections between the young journalists of the two countries was also highlighted in the meeting.

During the discussion, Amit Khare stated that the Golden Jubilee edition of the International Film Festival of India scheduled to be held later this year offers an opportunity to countries to showcase their creativity and cinematic excellence on a global platform. He extended an invitation to the Russian Delegation to participate in the Festival.

H.E. Alexey Volin talked about the immense popularity of Indian films in Russia and mentioned about a 24-hour channel dedicated solely to Indian films, currently operational in Russia.

The meeting was also attended by Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO, Prasar Bharati; Sitanshu Kar, Principal DG, PIB; Vikram Sahay, Joint Secretary, Ministry of I&B; Supriya Sahu, DG, Doordarshan; F. Shehryar, DG, All India Radio; Mayank Agrawal, DG, DD News; Chaitanya Prasad, Addl. DG, Directorate of Film Festivals and JP Mattu Singh, Addl. DG, AIR News.