Business Visit of Indian Representatives

On September 25, a trilateral meeting was held at Smolny between representatives of the St. Petersburg Committee for External Relations, the Vice-President of the All India Panchayat Parishad, the President of the Pradesh Panchayat Parishad of the state of Gujarat, and the Organizing Committee of the VII International Municipal BRICS Forum.

The Panchayat Parishad is an extensive system of municipal authority in India. Pareshkumar Desai described in detail the principles of its functioning at different levels. The advantage of such a power structure is its strict hierarchy and the clear allocation of authority to its representatives based on their level of involvement in addressing local issues.

During the business visit, the parties actively discussed prospects for cooperation in the development of inter-municipal relations and the exchange of experience between local government representatives.

One of the key topics of discussion was the formation of a delegation for the upcoming VII International Municipal BRICS Forum, which will be held on November 20-21 in St. Petersburg. The Indian representatives expressed interest in joint work not only with Russian counterparts but also with the Forum's many other international delegations.


"Preparations for our Forum are in full swing. Regular meetings with our foreign partners, co-organizers, and other participants allow the Organizing Committee to expand the program by including new areas in the agenda. We expect a large delegation at the November BRICS IMF, comprising representatives of municipalities, deputies, as well as businessmen from various sectors, led by Mr. Paresh Desai. Thanks to our meeting today, we have received numerous requests for negotiations at various levels, as well as for signing cooperation agreements. We expect our VII IMBRICS Forum to be very productive for all participants," said Mikhail Sverdlov, Deputy Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the VII IMBRICS Forum.