Russia, India begin Talks on Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

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NEW DELHI: Delhi and Moscow are discussing about Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the Russian trade minister disclosed on Monday. This announcement could deepen bilateral trade and commercial partnership that have flourished since the wake of Ukrainian Crisis.

This move broke out when New Delhi is facing a great pressure from Western Countries to distance itself from its traditional weapon supplier and now becoming a potential trade partner, Russia. However, statistics points that India`s imports from Russia more than quadrupled to $46.33 billion over the last fiscal year, mainly through petroleum products.

`We pay special attention to the issues of mutual access of production to the markets of our countries, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who is also the trade minister, told in an event in New Delhi. `Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, we are looking forward to intensifying negotiations on a free trade agreement with India.`

 

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar quoted as saying that the Covid pandemic had disrupted discussions on an FTA between India and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, and he also hoped `our colleagues will pick up on this, because we do believe it will make a real difference to our trade relationship`.

In response, Manturov said that “road construction material, equipment, chemicals and pharmaceutical products were in demand in Russia and `I am sure that this will create opportunities for Indian companies to increase their supplies to Russia`.

Furthermore, the announcement came at a time when New Delhi is also engaged in FTA discussions with Britain, the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

It is also reported that in November, Russia was potentially seeking to import more than 500 products from India in key sectors including cars, aircraft and trains. Given that, Western sanctions imposed over Russia`s military action in Ukraine have undermined its ability to keep core industries operating. Reuters (Courtesy: Dawn.pk)