MOSCOW: Russia aims to achieve USD 100 billion in bilateral trade with India by 2030, focusing on improving trade quality, diversifying products and strengthening industrial cooperation, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister and co-chair of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation Denis Manturov said in an exclusive interview to ANI ahead of Russian President's visit to India.
Manturov described the USD 100 billion goal as "truly ambitious," noting that realising it would require coordinated efforts from governments, businesses and financial institutions in both countries.
"We support the business circles by creating the necessary conditions and a favourable climate for expanding Russian-Indian cooperation," he told ANI, citing regular meetings of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation as a key platform for discussing investment projects.
"Achieving $100 billion trade aim is a truly ambitious goal. In order to reach this milestone, it is necessary to work on the quality of our bilateral trade and the structure of our trade turnover. It requires concerted efforts from governments of both states as well as businesses and financial institutions," said Manturov.
"We support the business circles by creating the necessary conditions and a favourable climate for expanding Russian-Indian cooperation through the holding of regular sessions of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation and its working groups, where investment projects are discussed," he added.
Highlighting successful collaboration, Manturov pointed to the joint production of Vande Bharat trains in India, adding that other projects are under development. He also noted that negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have been launched, with the first round recently held in New Delhi, aimed at improving the regulatory framework for bilateral trade.
"Some of them are already being successfully implemented, for instance, the joint production of Vande Bharat trains in India, the others are being worked out. As part of improving the regulatory framework for our cooperation, the free trade agreement negotiations have been launched, the first round has recently taken place in New Delhi," said Manturov. (ANI)
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