NEW DELHI: India and Russia are among the steadiest of partners globally, but there is need to work on the trade imbalance, says External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar.
"We have crossed the bilateral trade target of $30 billion that we had set for 2025. In fact, from April 2022 to February 2023, trade between India and Russia was about $45 billion and this is likely to grow. However, there is an understandable trade imbalance which these new volumes have created. We need to work with our Russian friends to address this imbalance," Jaishankar said during his interaction with visiting Russian Deputy PM and Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov.
Addressing that imbalance really means addressing the impediments, whether they are related to market access, tariff barriers, payments or logistics, he said.
ALSO READ | Russian Deputy PM pushes for FTA with India, Jaishankar says payments issue to be worked out
"I am convinced that it is possible to really find solutions, because if you look even in the last year, and this is something which the deputy PM himself is personally involved, we found ways, for example, of looking at the fertilizer trade in a much more mutually acceptable way. So, I think if we can look at an area like fertilizer, surely you know, the same spirit of cooperation and mutuality, we can look at other areas and look to find solutions," Jaishankar added.
On Tuesday, Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired the 24th session of the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technologicial and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).
"According to the last year's figures, the trade turnover increased 2.6 times and we have surpassed our own target," Manturov said.
India and Russia are Special and Privileged Strategic Partners.
During the last decade, there has been increased cooperation in energy, science, technology and inter-regional cooperation.
Meanwhile, exports from India traditionally have been pharmaceuticals and organic chemicals and at present there are possibilities of auto spares, electronic goods, medical devices, textiles, leather and agricultural products.
India and Russia are also in advanced negotiations on a new Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), which will be useful in providing sufficient confidence to investors. There were also talks of improving connectivity, through the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor, increasing air connectivity and also promoting tourism.