Russia on Thursday pitched for deeper educational and academic engagement with India, with Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov describing education as a potential “strong pillar” of the broader India-Russia strategic partnership.Speaking at the inauguration of the second Russia-India Education Summit here, Alipov said both countries shared a long-standing tradition of cooperation in the education sector and were now looking to explore newer avenues of collaboration.“The India-Russian Educational Summit is a welcome development. Both our countries have a long-standing tradition and history of cooperation and ties in education. We are very eager to explore newer avenues in education cooperation,” Alipov said.He noted that the number of Indian students studying in Russia had increased significantly in recent years, alongside a growing presence of Russian universities in India.“Russia has rigorous education standards. India has progressed a lot in educational standards. There is so much to gain from each other,” he said, expressing confidence that education could emerge as a major pillar of bilateral cooperation.The summit, organised by Rossotrudnichestvo with the support of the Russian Embassy in India, commenced on Wednesday and will continue till May 29.In his inaugural remarks, Alipov also underlined the growing demand for wider scientific and academic exchanges between the two countries. He stressed the need to strengthen educational cooperation by increasing the number of Indian students in Russian universities and expanding Russian language study centres in India.The forum has brought together representatives from more than 50 leading higher educational institutions, besides members from public, political, expert and academic circles from both countries.The two-day programme includes thematic panel discussions and roundtable sessions focusing on academic cooperation, student mobility, scientific exchanges and institutional partnerships.Alipov expressed optimism about the response to the summit and voiced hope that similar education summits would continue in future as part of efforts to deepen India-Russia people-to-people ties.