External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is confident of achieving the target of $100 billion in annual bilateral trade with Russia well before the deadline of 2030. He said there have been challenges in trade, especially around payments and logistics, and that good progress has been made in this regard, but there is still work to do.
This was stated by the External Affairs Minister at the 25th India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). The Russian delegation at the meeting was led by Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.
“Need to balance trade more”
In the meeting, Jaishankar said trade between the two countries “needs to be more balanced and this will require removing existing barriers and making more facilitation efforts.” He said New Delhi welcomes and fully supports Moscow’s growing interest in exploring economic opportunities in India.
He said: ‘Our economies not only complement each other in many ways, but also benefit from the trust built over many years. It is now estimated that bilateral trade will increase by $66 billion and this is impressive.
“Russia’s interest in Make in India is increasing”
The Foreign Minister said: ‘Our goal is to make it more balanced and this will require removing existing barriers and making more expedient efforts. Apart from facilitating trade, there should also be progress in the FTA talks between India and the Eurasian Economic Union. Jaishankar said India has noted Russia’s growing interest in the Make in India program and will encourage joint ventures and other forms of cooperation between the two sides.
