India and Russia agreed to increase bilateral trade to $100 billion dollars by 2030, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down for the 22nd Annual Summit
The leaders agreed to a cooperation statement on projects in Russia’s Far East that Mr. Putin has been focused on developing.
A joint vision statement on trade and economic cooperation by the end of the decade looked at nine issues including
the elimination of non-tariff barriers,
the development of a “bilateral settlement system using national currencies”,
ironing out customs procedures and using new connectivity routes, including the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime route and Northern Sea Route and the International North–South Transport Corridor via Iran,
investments in the energy sector including nuclear energy,
infrastructure development and
investment promotion
In addition, India and Russia signed a number of MoUs between institutions on climate change, polar research, legal arbitration and pharmaceutical certification and other issues
Russia had agreed to India’s request to open consulates in Kazan and Yekaterinburg to help facilitate services for the growing community
The bilateral trade target set by the leaders should be reasonably easy to achieve, given that, already, trade stands at around $65 billion
Achieving the target would catapult the business relationship to levels of trade India currently has only with bigger economies such as the U.S., China and the European Union
The Prime Minister accepted Russia’s highest civilian honour, the Order of St Andrew the Apostle, an award that had been announced by President Putin in 2019, but could only be presented now
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