WION & Sputnik partnership announced at Eastern Economic Forum, Vladivostok

WION and Russian news agency Sputnik exchanged letters of intent on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in the backdrop of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to Russia. The tie-up is a mutual partnership between Federal State Unitary Enterprise Rossiya Segodbya International Information Agency, founder of the Russian media outlet (SPUTNIK) information agency and Zee Media Corporation Limited's entity WION.

Sputnik and WION aim to amplify the digital and broadcast content of the two nations with technologically enhanced communication. The MoU will also help facilitate coordination and exchange of information and ideas with various communities of the two countries.

Sudhir Chaudhary, Editor-in-Chief, WION, said "A glorious friendship that has withstood the test of time and vagaries of history embarks on a journey to deepen mutual respect through culture, education, and science. This new era of bilateral cooperation promises to be a model for the world and will demonstrate the importance of soft power in a complex geopolitical landscape."

The partnership will focus on the creation of an interactive platform that develops rich content in all forms to ensure an improved understanding of the socio-cultural values of the two nations to harness technological innovation while delivering accurate content. The exchange of content would involve issues related to cultural, humanitarian, economic, sports and political events. The partnership is meant to uplift the spirit of friendship and cooperation between the two great nations - Russia and India.

"The ties between Russia and India are very strong historically, and our cooperation will meet this high standard. The Indian media field has requested for news content from our country, and we hope that we can satisfy the needs of the audience," Vasily Pushkov, Sputnik Head of International Projects, said, at a letter-exchange ceremony between WION and Sputnik at Vladivostok.

WION is India’s first international English news channel dedicated to putting forth India’s perspective on emerging global issues to the world. WION's vision is to create avenues for discourse which can complement India’s efforts in setting a new global agenda on principles of free trade, human rights and co-existence of civilizations that in turn can consolidate India’s position in the world as a responsible global power. WION was inaugurated by the honorable Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and former President of India Pranab Mukherjee in 2016.

Sputnik is one of the largest international media houses combining multimedia and regional Internet sites in 32 languages including in analogue and digital broadcasting in Russian, English, French and other languages in more than 90 cities around the world and on the Internet. Sputnik's through its news feeds delivers information to leading publications around the world in English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and Farsi.