NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will visit Russia on August 23-24 to co-chair the 27th session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation and hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The visit comes amid tensions with the US over tariffs and ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s expected visit to India for the BRICS summit next month. It will give New Delhi an opportunity to discuss trade, energy, defence and wider geopolitical issues with Moscow, a time-tested partner of India. Jaishankar is travelling at the invitation of Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.
Besides the commission meeting, he will meet Lavrov to exchange views on regional and global developments.Trade is expected to be a key focus. India-Russia bilateral trade reached a record USD 68.7 billion in 2024-25, but the relationship remains heavily skewed towards Indian purchases of Russian energy. India’s exports to Russia were only USD 4.88 billion.
Diversifying the trade and getting more Russian investment to India have remained a focus area. New Delhi had also raised concerns over the trade imbalance at the previous IRIGC-TEC meeting called on Russia to address tariff and non-tariff barriers, ease logistics bottlenecks and improve payment mechanisms. Connectivity is another critical area of bilateral cooperation. India is also seeking to expand connectivity through the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Northern Sea Route and the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor.
Both sides have set a target of taking bilateral trade to USD 100 billion by 2030. The commission is one of two key inter-governmental mechanisms overseeing India-Russia ties. The other deals with military-technical cooperation and is expected to meet later this year. The Moscow visit comes at a crucial time of geopolitical flux and tariff pressure from the US. New Delhi is under pressure from Washington over possible tariffs for purchasing Russian energy while continuing to deepen energy and strategic ties with Moscow.
Jaishankar’s talks are expected to focus on imparting greater momentum to the ties. The visit also comes ahead of Putin’s expected India trip for the BRICS summit, adding significance to the discussions between Jaishankar and Russian officials.