Russia steps up negotiations on a free trade agreement with India

Russia plans to "intensify" negotiations for a free trade agreement with India as the two countries seek greater cooperation, Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov said in New Delhi on Monday. 

"Particular importance was attached to the issues of mutual access to the markets of both countries. Together with the Eurasian Economic Commission, it is planned to intensify negotiations with India to conclude a free trade agreement," the Russian embassy said in a statement after Manturov's meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. 

The Indian minister said in a speech at the India-Russia Business Dialogue that he was "hopeful" that negotiations would resume as the two countries look "at how to expand and diversify our bilateral trade and economic cooperation". 

India is too dependent on Russian military imports, said Jaishankar, who pointed to possibilities in sectors such as auto parts and electronic goods, as well as agricultural products. 

The Asian country, which has defended its neutrality despite calls from Western allies to oppose and distance itself from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion, recorded bilateral trade with Moscow of $45 billion between April 2022 and 2023. 

India is concerned about the "imbalance" in the trade balance, Jaishankar said, between its increased imports of Russian oil in 2022 thanks to generous discounts obtained since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.

This increase in imports has put a strain on the rupee payment system to Moscow, implemented after the US and other countries imposed sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"I think the payments problem has to be solved between our systems," Jaishankar said. 

"Our partnership today is the subject of attention and commentary, not because it has changed, but because it has not," the Indian minister said of the "long-standing and time-tested" relationship between India and Russia. 

The remarks come less than a week after Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova's first visit to New Delhi, the Ukrainian government's first high-level visit to India. 

She urged India to 'reset' bilateral relations by moving away from Russia so as not to be on the wrong side of history.