New Delhi : Lauding the economic partnership between India and Russia, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the two economies benefit from the trust and confidence built over many years, adding that there has been an 'impressive' growth in the bilateral trade.
He was participating in the 25th Session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation in the national capital.
In his opening remarks, Jaishankar highlighted various aspects of India-Russia ties and the mechanisms the two countries must take to boost the relationship further. "Our deliberations today make a strong contribution to the progress of our strategic partnership," he said.
He told Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister, Denis Manturov, "Yesterday PM Modi received you and shared his thoughts with you on various issues that are a part of our agenda. The directions reflect the discussions during the annual summit in July and the subsequent meeting in Kazan".
Elaborating on the economic cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow, Jaishankar said the two economies are not just complimentary but benefits from the trust and confidence built over many years
"Our economies are not only complimentary in many respects, but benefit from the trust and confidence built over many years. The growth in the bilateral trade now estimated at USD 66 billion has been impressive. Our goal is that it needs to be more balanced and that will require addressing current constraints and undertaking greater facilitative efforts," the Foreign Minister said.
He further said that a more substantive relationship between India and Russia has a "larger resonance." "Our discussions today have both a bilateral context and global setting. As two major nations in increasingly multi-polar world, a more substantive relationship between us has a larger resonance," the EAM said. He added, "In parallel, we will also take our partnership forward, through the program of Economic cooperation till 2030 that we hope to finalise."
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the BRICS Summit in Kaza, during which he also met Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Monday, Jaishankar and FM Manturov participated in the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai.
Highlights of the event included Jaishankar listing out 10 priorities, which when focussed upon can give a fillip to India-Russia ties on all fronts. "You could see the strong interest in the Indian industry to expand our trade and intensify our collaboration", Jaishankar remarked today.
Jaishankar told the gathering in his opening remarks, "Our economies are not only complimentary in many respects, but benefit from the trust and confidence built over many years. The growth in the bilateral trade now estimated at USD 66 billion has been impressive. Our goal is that it needs to be more balanced and that will require addressing current constraints and undertaking greater facilitative efforts".
He highlighted that an important priority in the relationship of the two countries is "making it easier to do trade". He said this can be achieved by making "progress in the negotiations in the India-Eurasian Economic Union FTA". The India-Eurasian Economic Union FTA is an ambitious undertaking which aims to expand trade ties further.
Jaishankar, in his speech, expressed confidence and said, "We welcome and fully reciprocate Russia's growing interest in exploring economic opportunities in India". Manturov is currently on a visit to India and is set to in various inter-governmental interactions, focussed on expanding economic and business cooperation between the two nations.
The bilateral relationship has remained strong and stable over more than 75 years. The India-Russia partnership has been among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world in the contemporary era with a shared commitment to a multipolar world and continues to expand beyond the traditional areas of military, nuclear and space cooperation.