India and Russia on Tuesday agreed to unlock full potential of bilateral trade and economic relationship.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that the 24th India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation was held in New Delhi on 17-18 of April.
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Industry of Russia Denis Manturov who arrived in Indian capital yesterday heading a high-level delegation comprising senior officials from several Russian Ministries co-chaired the 24th session of the Inter-governmental commission. The two sides reviewed bilateral trade and economic relationship, and agreed to work together to unlock its full potential. The Inter-governmental Commission, which is a mechanism for monitoring bilateral progress of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, agreed to address the trade deficit and market access issues. The visiting Russian deputy PM also met Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
India-Russia Business Dialogue was also held on Monday with participation of key businesses from both the countries enabling Jaishankar, Manturov and business leaders to “engage and drive the momentum of shared priorities of deeper and wider bilateral commercial cooperation.” Though Indian authorities claim that the visit is in continuation of the regular high-level dialogue between the two nations, it assumes greater importance as New Delhi’s closer ties with Russia even while the latter is engaged in a bloody battle in Ukraine is seen with caution in western capitals. India has so far resisted western pressure to condemn Russian aggression and instead expressed concern over the humanitarian crisis arising out of the war and called to resolve all differences through dialogue and diplomatic means.
Source: Kuwait News Agency