Indian government's efforts are obviously towards making India a developed country in next 25 years: S Jaishankar in Russia

While interacting with the Indologists in St Petersburg, Jaishankar said, "For the last ten years in India, everyday two new colleges are being established. So that is the pace of change where education is concerned. It's not just in education, you can see it in every aspect of the society."

"And our effort obviously is to ensure that in the next 25 years, we are successful in our effort at becoming a developed country. And a developed country doesn't just mean a developed economy," he said.

Jaishankar said: "So a large part of our debate, one part of it is about development in a socioeconomic sense, but one part of the debate is also a debate about our culture and tradition and history, and how we inculcate that more deeply, not just in the country but in the consciousness of the world, and here too, I think the partnerships with Indologists across the world would make a difference."

He highlighted he growth of India in recent times and said: "We are a economy which is approaching 4 trillion dollars. If you look at how digital India has become, if you look at the pace of change, including in education.'

He focused on the need to expand people-to-people connections and said: "We would certainly like to see and increase the number of international students."

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is visiting Russia from December 25 to December 29 as a part of the ongoing high-level exchanges between the two sides.

He met several top leaders of the nation including President Vladimir Putin.