Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Tuesday reiterated his country’s firm commitment to a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), an economic bloc of five post-Soviet countries, and India while External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the economies of the two countries will benefit from the trust and confidence built over many years.

The ministers from the two countries were speaking at the 25th Session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation held here.

Mr Manturov highlighted the significant progress in bilateral trade between the two countries while emphasising the potential for further growth. He stressed the importance of enhancing collaboration through large-scale congress and exhibition events in both countries, which he said would “allow to rhythmically expand the growth rates of trade turnover in accordance with fashion.”

Pointing to the impressive trajectory of trade relations, he said, “Here I would like to point out the stable positive dynamics, and over the last five years, trade turnover of our country has grown more than fivefold. India is now the second country among all the foreign economic partners of Russia.” He noted that this positive trend has continued in 2024, with a nine per cent increase in trade turnover in the first eight months compared to last year.

He also spoke about plans to address the trade imbalance and diversify the product range as part of a comprehensive roadmap for cooperation until 2030.
Speaking on future initiatives, Mr Manturov reaffirmed his country’s commitment to finalising key agreements. “Among other things, we confirm our strong commitment to signing the FTA between the EEU and India, as well as the bilateral agreement on services and investments. This fully meets the needs of our business community,” he said.

Mr Jaishankar highlighted various aspects of India-Russia ties and the mechanisms the two countries must take to boost the relationship further. “Our deliberations today make a strong contribution to the progress of our strategic partnership,” he said. Elaborating on the economic cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow, he said the two economies are not just complimentary but benefit from the trust and confidence built over many years.

“Our economies are not only complimentary in many respects, but benefit from the trust and confidence built over many years. The growth in the bilateral trade now estimated at USD 66 billion has been impressive. Our goal is that it needs to be more balanced and that will require addressing current constraints and undertaking greater facilitative efforts,” the Indian minister said.

He further said that a more substantive relationship between India and Russia has a larger resonance. “Our discussions today have both a bilateral context and global setting. As two major nations in an increasingly multi-polar world, a more substantive relationship between us has a larger resonance,” he added.