The third "Summit of Minds" in Dilijan kicks off with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the 44-day aggression against Artsakh and the coronavirus pandemic

ArmInfo.The third prestigious international Summit of Minds in Dilijan kicked off with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the 44-day aggression against Artsakh and the coronavirus pandemic.

During his welcoming speech, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian noted that there were many discussions on whether or not to hold a summit this year, and in the end it was decided to host it, traditionally in Dilijan.  The President of Armenia also stated that today they are already thinking about preparations for next year's 4th summit and the STARMUS festival, in which more than one thousand representatives of different sectors are expected to participate.

At the same time, speaking about the geopolitical processes in the world, the President of Armenia stated that the world has already changed, it is no longer unipolar and it is necessary to understand how to continue living in this quantum multipolar world.

According to him, the coronavirus pandemic has had a serious impact on the processes in the world. `` The pandemic has changed the world, and today there is no person who has not been affected by the coronavirus. This is a global catastrophe that has claimed many lives, "the President of Armenia added, and as an example he cited the works of Kipling, which describes a situation when, in a drought, animals united, putting aside enmity and went to the watering hole to the river.

"Unfortunately, in our situation, our neighbors were not guided by the principles described in the work of Kipling, and in a pandemic, ignoring this challenge, they unleashed aggression against us. This war claimed the lives of many young people. In this regard, I would like to ask you to honor the memory of those whose lives were claimed by this war and the pandemic, "the Armenian President said.

In turn, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan welcomed the holding of the summit, which was nevertheless organized in the context of a pandemic.

He pointed out the importance of holding this event in today's difficult realities, generating ideas. "In my opinion, the most important issue that needs to be discussed at this event is geopolitical processes. Get answers to very important questions, including those related to Armenia, both in the past, in the present, and in the future. How and why this or that event took place in the regional and global context, "Pashinyan said.  It should be noted that today in Dilijan, the annual ``Summit of Minds '' held in the French city of Chamonix, which has also been held in Armenia since 2019, has started.

The traditional "Armenian Summit of Minds", already being held in Dilijan, is being held under the auspices of the RA President Armen Sarkissian, the main partners are the authoritative analytical magazine and the Central Bank of Armenia.

The Summit of Minds brings together political, economic, scientific and cultural figures from all over the world. It is a unique platform for the exchange of ideas, knowledge and experience, the main purpose of which is to present new ideas on important issues around the world. This year's summit will be held under the slogan "Global changes in the new quantum world".

After the welcoming speech, a dialogue also took place between President Armen Sarkissian and the former Prime Minister of Italy and the former President of the European Commission Romano Prodi.  The interlocutors exchanged views on global processes in the world, relations between Russia and the West, and the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Prodi, referring to the Armenia-EU relations, expressed his conviction that in the future they will converge, especially in the cultural, scientific and educational fields.

The plenary sessions, which will be held in closed formats, are devoted to two main topics: the development of geopolitical changes

in the world and in the South Caucasus and technologies, in particular artificial intelligence and biotechnology in the 21st century. Within the framework of the summit, the program of the 6th festival of science and art STARMUS, which will be held in Armenia next year, will be presented.  Given the epidemic situation in the world, some participants will participate in the online summit. Among the participants in this year's summit are former heads of state, heads of reputable international think tanks, international organizations, well-known technology companies, professors of world-renowned universities, including former President of Argentina Mauricio Macri, former President of Switzerland Micheline Anne-Marie Calmy-Rey, President of the Russian Skolkovo Foundation , President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Arkady Dvorkovich, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots Konstantin Zatulin, Deputy Director of Yandex Tigran Khudaverdyan, legendary athlete Roger Gracie and others.