Cape Town [South Africa], October 3 (ANI): Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, held a series of bilateral meetings with Presiding officers from the Parliaments of Russia, Germany, Italy, and host South Africa on the sidelines of the 11th G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit (P20) in Kleinmond, South Africa.

According to the Office of the Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha, 'These meetings focused on strengthening bilateral parliamentary cooperation, and presenting India's perspective on trade partnerships, technology, and sustainable development.

'In his meetings with various delegations, the Deputy Chairman also recalled the recent engagements with the Indian delegation comprising MPs who travelled to these nations to put forth India's stance on cross-border terrorism following the Pahalgam terror attack and OperationSindoor,' the statement added.

In his meeting with Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia, he recalled various productive engagements between the two nations and long-standing partnerships in key sectors.

In his meeting with Omid Nouripur, Vice President of the Bundestag (Lower house of the German Parliament), Harivansh underlined the potential for more co-operation between the leading democracies and the successful engagement on trade and sustainable development partnership.

The Deputy Chairman Harivansh also sought Germany's support towards the conclusion of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement negotiations. The bilateral trade between the two nations on goods and services has crossed $50 billion. Germany also has a 'Skilled Labour Strategy' that focuses on facilitating avenues for Indian professionals to come to Germany.

Harivansh also interacted with the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa, Thoko Didiza and recalled the historic and strong bilateral ties between the two nations with a common outlook towards upholding international fairness, justice, and the collective interest of developing countries. India is among the top three trading partners of South Africa.

Earlier, he held a bilateral meeting with the Italian delegation led by Licia Ronzulli, Vice President of the Italian Senate. In his meeting, he spoke about the progress made, particularly in areas of trade and investment, Education, Defence, Culture, Academics and people-to-people ties. (ANI)