Russias deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov arrived in India on Monday for a two-day visit to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries.Denis Manturov arrived in the Republic of India on a business trip, the Russian Embassy in India said on Twitter. Denis Manturov, the deputy prime minister and minister of industry and trade of the Russian Federation, arrived in New Delhi, the capital of the Republic of India, on April 17.Manturov co-chaired the 24th meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) on the first day of his visit. The main institutional mechanism regulating economic cooperation is IRIGC-TEC. It combines six working groups on energy, modernization and industrial cooperation, tourism and culture, research and technology, and information technology.The minister has expressed his desire to boost trade with India to balance Russias merchandise trade deficit with India. On the issue related to India-Russia trade and payments issue, Manturov said, “Thats one of the issues which just discussed with your colleague, so because of lack of input from India, it is not enough to use the Rupee so we need to boost the trade from India and then, in this case, we are looking at balance like for example, we have with China. We have USD 200 billion trade with China, and its balanced.”The sources claim that India and Russia are principally debating a free trade agreement that would further strengthen the bilateral commercial relations that have grown since the conflict in Ukraine. Notably, the growth in commerce between China and Russia has increased the use of the Chinese yuan. In 2022, Chinas overall exports to Russia increased to USD 76.12 billion. Russias economy has been hit by Western sanctions due to its invasion of Ukraine, resulting in increased use of the Yuan.In addition, Manturov will co-chair an IGC plenary meeting on Tuesday. The co-chairs will then sign the 24th IGC meeting final protocol after the meeting. The two nations intend to talk about their mutual commerce, economic collaboration, and humanitarian efforts. Additionally, Manturov will likely meet with the Russian Embassy in India.The Russian deputy prime minister stated that his country is willing to step up negotiations on a free trade agreement with India while speaking at the economic dialogue between Russia and India. He said, “Together with Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on Free Trade Agreement with India.” He further added that Moscow is interested in a quality increase in trade.Manturov also mentioned that they are working on the singing of the Russia-India Bilateral Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investments at an event that was jointly organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Russia-India Business Council.In his speech to the Russia-India Business Dialogue, the deputy prime minister of Russia, who arrived in New Delhi earlier today, made this statement. According to him, India might join the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) as one of the ley partners. Notably, INSTC was approved in 2000 and recognized by Russia, Iran, and India in 2002. Trial runs were carried out in 2016.Manturov stated that Russia proposes to take into account the potential for widespread usage of national currencies and currencies of friendly nations within the period of the intergovernmental dialogue. This will make it possible to reduce costs and currency risks.Meanwhile, the Russian trade minister also invited Indian business partners to visit the international industrial exhibition INNOPROM, which will take place on July 10-13 in the city of Ekaterinburg.
