The meeting of the Group of Strategic Vision (GSV) "Russia - Islamic World", will kick off tomorrow, Wednesday 24 November, 2021, in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. The meeting will be held under the theme "Dialogue and Prospects for Cooperation". It will also include a broad participation of officials and scholars, and intellectuals from the Russian Federation and Islamic countries to discuss common issues and enhance cooperation in addressing the existing challenges. The GSV includes 33 state and public figures from 27 Muslim countries, including former prime ministers, former ministers of foreign affairs and many religious figures from the Islamic world. This meeting comes within the framework of Russia's efforts to strengthen its relations with the Islamic world, in light of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's initiative for dialogue between followers of religions and cultures, whereas Saudi Arabia hosts this meeting for the second time after hosting its fourth session in Jeddah, 2008. The group currently focuses on developing measures to strengthen long-term cooperation between Russia and Islamic countries and practical implementation of the strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Islamic world. The Group of Strategic Vision "Russia - Islamic world" was established in 2006 under the supervision of Evgeny Maksimovich Primakov and Mintimer Sharipovich Shaimiev after the Russian Federation joined the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as an observer member. The group held its meetings since 2006 in Moscow, followed by the meetings in Kazan, Istanbul, Jeddah, and Kuwait. Ufa of the Republic Bashkortostan hosted the latest version of the meeting of the GSV "Russia-Islamic world" on 28-30 November 2019, under the theme "Interfaith harmony.. The Experience of Russia and Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation".
