- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
A business delegation from India is set to visit Russia between Monday (24) and Thursday (27), an Indian exporters’ body said on Friday (21), marking a fresh sign of expanding their bilateral relationships as Moscow has been increasingly turning east after the West imposed sanctions on it in connection to the Ukraine war which started in February last year.
According to a Reuters report, the announcement comes after a visit by Russia’s trade and industry minister Denis Manturov to Delhi earlier in April which saw discussions on the inking of a free trade agreement in the days ahead.
“The 50-member delegation would meet buyers in Moscow and St Petersburg,” A Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations was quoted as saying by Reuters.
He added that the aim was to expand Indian exports to Russia to $5 billion (£4.02 billion) in the current fiscal, the report said.
According to the official, the exporters expect to conclude deals for selling various products such as tea, sugar, coffee, dairy, marine products, among others, the report added.
Russia earlier sent a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery, including parts for vehicles, aircraft, and trains as the Western sanctions challenge its ability to keep key industries functioning.
India’s imports from Russia more than quadrupled to $46.33 billion (£37.2 billon) over the last fiscal year, mainly through oil, but exports declined nearly 12 per cent year-on-year to $2.8 billion (£2.2 billion) for the 11 months ending in February.
According to exporters, sales to Russia fell mainly due to payment difficulties as both sides are still trying to work out a trade-settlement mechanism in local currencies.
India has not explicitly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has sought dialogue to resolve the crisis.
