Russia’s first deputy prime minister Denis Manturov will make a two-day visit to India from Monday to participate in a meeting of a key body that oversees bilateral relations and to take forward business ties between the two sides.
Manturov and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will co-chair the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation (IGC-TEC) in New Delhi on November 12, the Russian embassy said on Sunday.
Prior to the meeting, Manturov will take part in a plenary session of the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai on Monday. This event is aimed at expanding cooperation between entrepreneurs of the two countries.
The IGC-TEC is the apex government forum for overseeing bilateral economic cooperation. The mechanism regularly monitors progress in trade and economic cooperation and was set up under an agreement signed by India and Russia in May 1992.
Among the issues that are expected to figure at the meeting of the IGC-TEC are ways to improve the payment mechanism between the two countries, enhanced trade settlement in national currencies, a joint venture project for building Vande Bharat trains by Russia’s Transmashholding (TMH) and connectivity initiatives, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.
The IGC-TEC integrates inputs from several working groups and sub-groups that focus on economic and trade cooperation, investments, civil aviation, fertilisers, mining, energy, tourism, science and technology, IT, and banking and financial matters.
The India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai will include sessions on issues such as industrial cooperation, transport, logistics, finance, digital technologies and inter-regional ties, the Russian embassy said. It is being organised by the Business Council for Cooperation with India and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
India and Russia have set a bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2030 during the annual leaders’ summit in July. The two sides have already achieved trade worth $30 billion before the target year of 2025, though India has concerns about its exports being worth less than $5 billion in the overall figure of $65.7 billion during 2023-24.
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, hosted under Moscow’s presidency. He addressed two sessions during the summit. The Prime Minister described the BRICS Summit as “very productive” and thanked President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and their government for their hospitality.
During the summit, PM Modi said that India supports dialogue and diplomacy, not war. “And, just as we together defeated a challenge like COVID, in the same way, we are fully capable of creating new opportunities for a safe, strong and prosperous future for the future generation…Similarly, we should work for global regulations for cyber security, safe and secure AI,” he said at the event.
He added that the BRICS countries should strongly deal with terrorism and terror financing. “We all have to be united and cooperate strongly to deal with terrorism and terror financing. There is no place for double standards on such a serious issue. We should take active steps to prevent radicalisation among the youth of our countries. We have to work together on the pending issue of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism in the UN,” he added.
Prior to this, Modi also went on a visit to Russia. During his first bilateral visit in the third term as the PM, he attended the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit with President Putin.
He was also awarded the prestigious “Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle” in recognition of his efforts to foster deeper ties between New Delhi and Moscow.
