New Delhi : In first of its kind, New Delhi on Sunday hosted the Russian-Indian friendship cycling rally dedicated to the 77th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the two countries and the 40th anniversary of the first Indian cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma’s spaceflight as part of the Soviet-Indian crew.

The event was organized by the Russian Embassy in India jointly with the Confederation of Indian Cyclists. It is the second time such a rally took place in New Delhi — the first one was held exactly a year ago.

Today, it brought together more than 600 people — the Embassy’s staff, compatriots living in India, students of local and Russian universities, representatives of the diplomatic corps and the public, journalists — united by a passion for cycling. Among its participants was Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov who underscored the significance of such events that confirm the strong friendship ties between the two countries.

In a post on X, Denis Alipov said, "The cycling race to mark the 77th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between India, Russia . Organized by the Confederation of Indian cyclists. A superb way to start the day!

According to Ministry of external affairs, Russia has been a longstanding and time-tested partner for India. Development of India-Russia relations has been a key pillar of India's foreign policy. Since the signing of “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000 (during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India), India-Russia ties have acquired a qualitatively new character with enhanced levels of cooperation in almost all areas of the bilateral relationship including political, security, trade and economy, defence, science and technology, and culture.

Under the Strategic Partnership, several institutionalized dialogue mechanisms operate at both political and official levels to ensure regular interaction and follow up on cooperation activities. During the visit of the Russian President to India in December 2010, the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership".