Delhi witnessed the meeting of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday. Our friendship with Russia is old, but the meeting of these two powerful leaders will not only strengthen this relationship, but will also give a booster dose of 6 lakh crore rupees ($ 80 billion) to the economy of both the countries.
These countries want to take two-way investment to $50 billion and trade beyond $30 billion by 2025. 28 agreements have been signed during Putin's visit. Know, the economic relations of India-Russia and the impact of Modi-Putin meeting on it .
India has had strong relations with Russia since independence. Russia has played an important role in the development of defence, space, nuclear energy, industrial technology and many other areas. In the 1990s, when the Soviet Union was breaking up, the closeness between India and Russia grew even more. Be it politics or economy, the closeness increased in both the fields. Agreements were also made to support each other.
Since then there has been a boom in trade between the two countries. Russia has long been India's biggest ally in meeting its defense needs. Apart from defence, there is trade between the two countries in areas like petroleum, pharma and nuclear energy.
After Modi became the Prime Minister, he had several meetings with Putin. Each time some agreements were reached and cooperation was agreed upon. India-Russia friendship has only strengthened during this period. If we talk about 2020-21, then the bilateral trade of both the countries was $ 8.1 billion. Indian exports stood at $2.6 billion during this period, while imports from Russia stood at $5.48 billion. These figures have been given by the Indian Embassy in Russia.
Now talking about the figures of the Russian government, their bilateral trade with India was $ 9.31 billion, in which Indian exports were $3.48 billion and imports were $ 5.83 billion.
The $30 billion target for two-way investment between India and Russia has already been met. Now both the countries have set a new target. Together these countries want to take two-way investment beyond $ 50 billion by 2025.
Banking relations between India and Russia have also improved. Many Russian banks have opened their representative offices/branches in India. Similarly, Commercial Bank of India LLC (Joint Venture of SBI and Canara Bank) is offering banking services in Russia.
Giving information about this visit of Putin, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that '28 agreements have been signed in this visit. The agreements cover areas such as trade, energy, intellectual property, banking, accountancy. The focus was on increasing bilateral trade and investment in the talks.
“This year, we have seen an increase in trade as compared to last year. Both countries are expecting a steady increase in trade and investment trajectory. On trade and investment, there are some specific plans which include long term cooperation in the areas of inland waterways, fertiliser, coking coal, steel, skilled manpower.
Shringla said that 'we have expressed our interest in investing more in the oil and gas sector as well as petrochemicals.'
Russia has long been a trusted ally of India. Even after this, the bilateral trade between the two countries is very less. Bilateral trade has so far not grown beyond $10 billion. Bilateral investment is also below its capacity.
Both countries want their bilateral trade to cross $30 billion by 2025. India needs supply and Russia needs demand. In such a situation, both the countries are trying to find a way to increase the business. During his visit to Russia in the year 2019, PM Narendra Modi had emphasized on increasing trade with the Far East region of Russia.
Before President Putin's arrival in India, the Defense Minister and Foreign Minister of Russia reached India and held talks with their counterparts here. Russia is the fourth country with which India has 2+2 talks. Its direct message is that India is telling the world that its cooperation with Russia will continue.