On Monday, 13 September, Ilyas Umakhanov, first deputy chairman of the Committee on Science, Culture and Education of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, met with Mr Ahmad Al-Saati, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Moscow. Rushan Abbyasov, deputy chairman of the RBMRF and the Russia Muftis Council, attended the meeting, which took place at the Federation Council.

The meeting was dedicated to the forthcoming World Conference on Interfaith and Interethnic Dialogue to be held in St Petersburg in May 2022. As deputy chairman of the organising committee for the conference, Ilyas Umakhanov briefed the Ambassador on the goals and objectives of this international event. He also informed him about the current preparation process and things that had to be done. Ilyas Umakhanov noted that a Conference would be attended by high-level participants, such as heads of states, parliamentary speakers and representatives of world religions.

Mr. Al-Saati stressed the interest of the Kingdom of Bahrain in participating in the World Conference and also approved the choice of the venue, saying that  Russia is an important example of inter-religious and interethnic peace, harmony and good neighbourliness. The Ambassador assured that he would inform the King of Bahrain about the forthcoming conference to the King of Bahrain.

The suggestion to conduct the World Conference on Inter-religious and Inter-ethnic Dialogue was put forward by the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, at the 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in St Petersburg in 2017. The initiative was supported by the Assembly and then by the UN in 2018.