PM Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin
There are only a few hours left for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival in India, but before that a very positive news has come from Moscow for the Indian economy. Russia has made it clear that it does not want to allow trade relations with India to remain one-sided. Russia has indicated that it is now taking concrete steps to increase its imports from India. This simply means that Russia is going to widen its market doors for Indian goods and services.
Preparation to correct trade imbalance
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, while talking to the media on Tuesday, admitted that right now the balance of trade is tilted towards Russia, because Russia sells huge amounts of oil and energy resources to India, while purchases from India are less. Peskov said, “We know that we sell more from India than we buy and our Indian friends are concerned about this.”
Russia is going to take a big step to address this concern. A special ‘Importers Forum’ will be organized during the visit of President Putin. Its main objective is to find ways by which Russia can buy more and more goods and services from India. However, Peskov also clarified that there may be a slight temporary decrease in oil trade volumes, but Russia will remain India’s major partner in the energy sector.
End dollar dependence, pay in your own currency
Amidst global uncertainties, India and Russia have found a strong way to protect their trade. Peskov said that now almost the entire trade between the two countries is taking place in national currencies. This step is very important so that no ‘third country’ can create obstacles in the economic relations between India and Russia.
The Kremlin says that this method of payment not only secures trade, but also strengthens the sovereignty of both the countries. This trade will not be affected by sanctions or pressure from any third country, which will provide security and stability in payments to Indian exporters.
Modi-Putin’s ‘power meeting’ to be held on 4-5 December
President Vladimir Putin will be on a state visit to India on December 4 and 5 at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During this time he will participate in the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit. This meeting will not be merely formal, but there will be talks on giving a new direction to the ‘special and privileged strategic partnership’ between the two countries.
Russia has praised India’s historic economic growth and said that it feels proud to walk shoulder to shoulder with India. It is expected from this visit that important consensus will be reached between the two leaders on bilateral trade and regional issues.