Indo-Russia Media Roundtable: Joint council proposed

The first India-Russia Media Roundtable was held here today during which the Russian side proposed setting up of a joint media council to boost bilateral ties.
The event, hosted by the Ministry of External Affairs ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to St Petersburg, marks 70 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, in his opening remarks, laid emphasis on the historic ties of the two countries and further enhancing it through business and people-to-people cooperation.
Prime Minister Modi will travel to Russia in June to attend St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), where India has been invited as a 'Guest Country', and the two sides are working on the "bilateral aspect" of the visit.

Later in a session, Director General of state-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Negotsa Pavel Afanasievitch, floated the idea of setting up a Indo-Russia media council, akin to the Sino-Russia media council.
"The level of Indian reports appearing in Russian media and vice-versa is low and not commensurate with the level of cooperation the two countries enjoy. We, therefore, need to ramp it up.

"Also, we could set up a joint media council as we (Russia) have with China. And, this forum could help resolve issues that arise in media projects," he said.
Deputy Minister of Telecom and Mass Communication Alexey Volin, who attended the session, said, "Russian side was ready to support the idea of having a joint group. Also, we can do a lot more in areas of archives and other media content.

"Besides, bilateral ties, we need to also work on multilateral ties like through BRICS to enhance our cooperation in various sectors," he said.
Volin also underlined the need to extend cooperation in the segments of music, art, culture, tourism and sports through media.
"Next year the world football championship (2018 FIFA World Cup) will take place in Russia and we are ready to cooperate in coverage of this event also in the area of sports journalism in general.
"Besides, an international youth-student festival will take place in Moscow in October, and we are looking forward to India's participation as well," he said.

The roundtable was attended by various representatives of top media houses, including news agencies, dailies and TV channels from both countries, besides, of Russian art and culture bodies, like Russian State Musical TV and Radio Centre.
On the issue of propaganda in news reporting, Volin said Russia makes all the efforts to stop such content, saying, "There is no post-truth, just truth or lies.