India and Russia review trade & economic relationship, discuss steps to unlock full potential

Reviewing different facets of their trade and economic relationship on Tuesday, India and Russia agreed to unlock its full potential by addressing key issues including market access.

The subject was discussed during the 24th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. The meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral trade and economic relationship, and agreed to work together to unlock its full potential including through addressing the trade deficit and market access issues.

The Inter-Governmental Commission is a mechanism for monitoring bilateral progress of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

During the day, Manturov, who was accompanied by senior representatives from several Russian ministries, also held bilateral meetings with Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Earlier, on Monday, the "India-Russia Business Dialogue” was held with participation of major businesses from both sides. This "enabled the Co-Chairs and business leaders to engage and drive the momentum of shared priorities of deeper and wider bilateral commercial cooperation," the MEA said.

Speaking at the event, EAM Jaishankar pointed out that the two sides had crossed the bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion before the year 2025, which was the target year set by the leaderships. "For the period April, 2022 - February, 2023, I understand that the trade is actually about USD 45 billion and the expectation is that this will continue to grow," he added.

The Russian Deputy PM's visit is in continuation of the regular high-level dialogue between the two Sides. EAM Jaishankar had last visited Russia in November 2022.