News

 The meeting of the strategic vision group "Russia - Islamic World" kicked off today, Wednesday, in Jeddah. This Came year it came under the title "Russia - Islamic World: Dialogue and Prospects for Cooperation". A delegation from The World Muslim Communities Council, including His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Bechari, Secretary-General of the Council, and Mr. Hassan Al-Marzouqi, Assistant Secretary-General, as well as a large number of officials, thinkers and religious figures from the Russian Federation and Islamic countries participated in the meeting. The meeting, whose activities will continue until Thursday, comes within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiatives to promote dialogue between followers of religions and cultures, discussing new opportunities for interaction between the Russian Federation and Islamic countries, and other contemporary issues regarding the international situation.

 The meeting was attended by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Chairman of the Strategic Vision Group “Russia and Islamic World”, Rustam Minnikhanov; Deputy Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Waleed bin Abdul Karim Al-Khuraiji; Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Hussein Ibrahim Taha; Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Nayef Falah Mubarak Al-Hajraf;  Mohamed bin Abdul Karim Issa, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League; and Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General Supervising the Media and Communication Sector of the League of Arab States. 

 It is scheduled to discuss issues of interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding, trade and economic relations between Russia and the countries of the Islamic world and the prospects for forming new models of global development, taking into account the threats to international stability.

  The meeting will also address issues of interaction between Russia and the Islamic world, the promotion and strengthening of traditional cultural and moral values, prospects for developing and implementing joint programs to promote the cultural, spiritual and religious diversity of the modern world, with the aim of intensifying regional cooperation.

  Among the main issues that the meeting will discuss are the issue of terrorism, international peace and security, role of international organizations in the peaceful settlement of disputes, ways to promote peace and cooperation in a post-coronavirus world, cultural dialogue and human rapprochement.

  The Strategic Vision Group was established in 2006, after the Russian Federation joined the Organization of Islamic Cooperation as an observer member. Since then, the Group has held annual periodic meetings, beginning with the Moscow meeting, which was held in 2006, and called the "Meeting of the Elders", to be hosted later in Kazan (Tatarstan), Istanbul (Turkey), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia),  Kuwait (Kuwait) , Grozny (Chechnya), and Ufa (Bashkortostan), with the participation of former and current senior officials, scholars and thinkers from the Russian Federation and Islamic countries.

  These meetings were devoted to discussing dialogue of civilizations, confronting terrorism and extremism, and the future of relations between Russia and the Islamic world and ways to develop them.

  The group includes 33 government and public figures from 27 Muslim countries, including former prime ministers, former foreign ministers, and many religious figures from the Muslim world.

 The last meeting of the Strategic Vision Group "Russia and Islamic World" was held from 28-30 November 2019, in the city of Ufa, Siberia.