India tells Russia to remove tariff barriers, trade in national currencies 

Just four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Valdimir Putin held the annual India-Russia inter-governmental summit, increased bilateral opportunities in trade and investment are being worked upon by the two sides.

In Mumbai on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while speaking at the India-Russia Business Forum, asked Russia to remove tariff barriers to allow Indian products greater access to the Russian market and suggested that doing trade in national currencies was of great importance.

Modi and Putin met in Moscow in July and tasked officials on either side to “prepare a programme for the development of promising areas of Russian-Indian economic cooperation till 2030”.

In New Delhi, the Russian Embassy said on Monday that a ‘business centre’ is to open in the national capital on Tuesday. Its main objective is to develop business ties between the two countries and promote export cooperation. Also, on Tuesday, the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission will be meeting in Delhi to take stock of the bilateral cooperation.

Jaishankar said, “Mutual settlement of trade in national currencies is of great importance, especially in the current circumstances.... Special rupee-vostro accounts are an effective mechanism right now. But in short term, a better trade balance with national currency settlements is the answer.”

The minister said the India-Russia bilateral trade was today at $66 billion and the goal was to take it to $100 billion by 2030. He then sought Russia to relax some tariffs. “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…. A growing Russian appreciation of ‘Make In India’ as a programme to deepen business will certainly help to take forward our cooperation in many domains,” he said.

India, said Jaishankar, would grow at 8 per cent annually for multiple decades ahead and Russia was a key natural resources provider and a major technology leader. India would be major player in oil, gas, coal or uranium and this applied to fertilizers too, the minister said.

Jaishankar referred to the annual summit at Moscow in July and the interaction Modi and Putin had last in Kazan. “Those occasions have provided a strategic direction whose economic dimension we seek to realise through this gathering…. The India-Eurasian Economic Union trade in goods negotiations commenced in March this year. We need to vigorously take it forward. The three connectivity initiatives between us, as mentioned by the First DPM as well – INSTC, Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor and the Northern Maritime Route – all need continued attention,” added Jaishankar.