MUMBAI: Highlighting that Russia-India business relations continue to strengthen amid the "external economic pressure", Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Monday outlined development of the transport industry and increasing the potential of the nuclear sector among the priority technological areas of future cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi.
Manturov and External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar met with representatives of Russian and Indian businesses at the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai ahead of the 25th Session of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation that will be held in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The forum, aiming at fostering stronger business ties between entrepreneurs from both nations, featured sessions on key areas of cooperation, including industrial collaboration, transport and logistics, finance, digital technologies, and interregional connections.
Spotlighting India's "long history of strong convergence and deep friendship" with Russia, EAM Jaishankar stated that as Moscow "consciously focused" more deeply on Asia since 2022, many more avenues of cooperation have been created at a time when the world is moving towards greater multi-polarity.
"Our bilateral trade is today at USD 66 billion. This makes the goal of reaching USD 100 billion by 2030 more than realistic. The balance of trade however needs urgent redressal since it is so one-sided. It is imperative that non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments are speedily addressed for this to happen. The India-Eurasian Economic Union trade in goods negotiations commenced in March this year. We need to vigorously take it forward, " said Jaishankar while highlighting significant developments in the bilateral business partnership.
The EAM opined that a partnership between an India that has an 8 per cent growth rate "for multiple decades ahead", and a Russia that is a key natural resources provider and a major technology leader, will serve both countries and the world well.
In his address, Manturov listed development of the transport industry, including the introduction of unmanned technologies and the transfer of vehicles to alternative fuels, and increasing the potential of the nuclear sector - including the production of high-power turbines, equipment for solar and wind generation and improving LNG technologies - as the key areas of bilateral economic cooperation.
He also spoke on providing the healthcare system with advanced medicines and medical devices, as well as strengthening Russia's leading positions in the areas of nuclear medicine, production of vaccines and development of the cell engineering segment.
Manturov mentioned that conditions for high-impact economic partnership between the two countries are formed by two national programmes that are "similar in spirit" - India's 'Make in India' programme and the course towards technological sovereignty taken by the Russian government.
Both of these initiatives, he said, are aimed at accelerating the pace of production, developing innovations and removing infrastructure restrictions.
"An objective indicator of this is the record volume of trade turnover that we reached last year. And there are all the prerequisites to surpass this achievement this year. At the same time, in addition to the quantitative growth of mutual trade, it is important to diversify its structure. Not just to balance commodity flows, but also to increase the share of high-tech products, " emphasised Manturov.
He also listed other sectors, including increasing agricultural productivity through genetic and biotechnology, precision farming systems, irrigation and reclamation technologies besides building up competencies in high-tech means of production and technologies for the transition to a closed-cycle economy, as well as in space services, where the two countries can collaborate more intensely in the near future.
Manturov and EAM Jaishankar will on Tuesday co-chair the 25th session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) that serves as the highest-level forum for bilateral economic collaboration between the two countries, encompassing a broad range of areas from trade to cultural exchange.
The Russian First Deputy Prime Minister's visit also includes various bilateral meetings, further underscoring Russia's commitment to strengthening its partnership with India across multiple sectors.