The Federation Council Speaker had a meeting with the Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko had a meeting with the Secretary General
of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Yousef Bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen.
“The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation plays an important role in the Islamic world and in the entire system of international
relations,” Valentina Matvienko said.
She noted that multi-ethnic Russia took a positive
view of the 14-year-long cooperation with the OIC.
We are interested in expanding inter-parliamentary
cooperation with the OIC, the Federation Council Speaker emphasised.
Valentina Matvienko recalled that
there were plans to hold the World Conference on Inter-Faith and Inter-Civilisational Dialogue in Russia in May 2022. In this
connection, the Federation
Council Speaker invited representatives of the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation to take part in preparations for this forum.
Yousef Bin Ahmed
Al-Othaimeen noted that the OIC served as a bridge between Russia and the Islamic
world, and that mutual strategic relations had acquired new dynamics in the past few years.
The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation invited the Federation Council Speaker to visit the OIC
Headquarters in Jeddah.
During their conversation, the sides exchanged
opinions on the current state of relations between Russia and the Islamic world
and touched upon inter-faith and inter-denominational subjects and matters of jointly combatting terrorism and extremism.
Deputy Federation Council Speaker Ilyas Umakhanov, Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kosachev and Belan Khamchiyev, member of the Federation Council Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management and a member of the Federation Council group for cooperation with parliaments of Asian and African states, took part in the conversation.