India, Russia discuss free trade agreement

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – Russian resource and technology complementarity can be a powerful contribution to India’s growth, said the Indian external affairs minister on Monday.

S. Jaishankar was speaking at the India-Russia Business Dialogue in New Delhi on Monday, with Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov also in attendance.

“We have been having discussions for a free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union. The COVID (pandemic) interrupted those discussions, so I would very much hope that our colleagues will pick up on this. We will certainly encourage them from the Foreign Ministry side. Because we do believe that they will make a real difference to our trade relationship,” said Jaishankar, adding that they are also in advanced negotiations on a new bilateral investment treaty.

Manturov, currently on a two-day visit to India, said that together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, it plans to intensify negotiations with India to conclude a free trade agreement.

“Additionally, the issue of signing a Russian-Indian agreement on the encouragement and mutual protection of investment is being worked out. Trade preferences and mechanisms that guarantee the safety of investment will be in demand by both Russian and Indian businesses,” said Manturov in a statement released by the Russian Embassy in New Delhi.

“We have crossed the bilateral trade target of $30 billion before the year 2025, which was the target year given to us by our leaderships. And in fact, for the period April 2022-February 2023, I understand that the trade is actually about $45 billion and the expectation is that this will continue to grow,” said Jaishankar.

Last week, Emine Dzhaparova, Ukraine’s first deputy foreign minister, was in India.

The visit by Dzhaparova was the first official visit since the war began. Though India has refused to condemn Russia's war, it has been insisting on resolving the dispute through dialogue and diplomacy since the conflict began. India has also been buying Russian fuel at a discounted price.

China and India accounted for 91% of Russia’s crude oil exports in March as Western sanctions led the country to almost totally shift its trade routes from Europe to Asia, according to data from energy analytics company Vortexa compiled by Anadolu.