NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is on a five-day visit to Russia, signed an agreement on the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project when he met Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Tuesday.
"There is an X factor when is comes to the relationship between India and Russia which has remained good and has enhanced to a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. I signed an agreement along with DPM Manturov for future units of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu. The bilateral trade between India and Russia can increase from the present $50 billion to $100 billion in the next few years," said Jaishankar, while interacting with the Indian diaspora in Moscow on Tuesday.
Jaishankar said that India has strong ties in defence, nuclear power and space with Russia as it's a trusted partner.
"Our relationship with Russia has been stable over the past many decades as the leadership has taken care to nurture it and there is a strong people to people connect between our two nations. We support Russia for their BRICS Presidency and will continue to be their partner," he added.
He said that there was scope of improving connectivity between the two nations, but since the civil aviation sector was privatised, it's up to the carriers to chose a route that would be rational for them.
Regarding trade in local currencies, Jaishankar said that since reliance on traditional currencies is dwindling, more and more countries are now considering trading in local currencies which also happens when there are conflicts and shortage of traditional currencies.
"What I realised after meeting Deputy PM Manturov today was that many people in Russia are now aware of how much India has progressed, whether its digital payments, our growth rate at 7.7 per cent or expertise in pharma sector or education. We need to make others aware of our achievements and the diaspora can do that through their network. Also, just like Prime Minister Narendra Modi always says during his interactions with the diaspora, we would urge you to get your friends to visit India. Not just will it enhance tourism, but also dispel a lot of things they may feel about the country," he added.
In this fast changing world, India too has changed and progressed, he said, adding that from being the 10th largest economy a decade back, the country has now moved to the 5th position and a few years from now, it will become the 3rd largest economy. This improvement should be shared with people locally by the diaspora as the narrative needs to be changed to what it is at present, Jaishankar said.