Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday discussed ways to improve economic relations between the two countries. Trutnev, who is also the Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy to its Far-Eastern Federal District, has urged Indian companies to invest in the province which at present makes Sukhois and MiGs for India.
Trutnev’s visit is a follow up of the decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin during their bilateral meetings to increase annual bilateral trade and investment.
Russian Minister for Trade and Industry Denis Manturov too is in India with a large business delegation to attend the India-Russia Military Industrial Conference and explore possible business tie-ups between the two countries in Defence and other sectors.
Manturov said that Russia is open to localising spare component production of its modern Sukhoi super jet even as it is talking to Mahindra and Mahindra for partnership for the MC 21 civil aviation aircraft. He added that a Mahindra subsidiary is already manufacturing interiors for the Sukhoi super jet.
Interestingly, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is at present is in Moscow to prepare the ground for Modi’s visit to Russia in June. Modi will attend the International Economic Forum as Guest of Honour, and economic partnership between two countries will be a major point of discussion during bilateral talks.
India will also be participating in the Third Eastern Economic Forum to be held in Vladivostok in September this year.
During her meeting with Trutnev, Swaraj stressed on the growing mutual ties between India and Russia in energy sector, particularly in the Russian Far East. She hoped that the mutual complementary strength of India and Russia in the diamond sector too will be exploited fully and emphasised on cooperation in maritime and agricultural sector, and on institutional linkages between the countries in these areas.
“The leaders agreed that the forthcoming interaction between the leaders of the two countries and various ministerial interactions will provide further thrust to the development of economic cooperation between India and Russia,” Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
The Far Eastern Federal District is the largest but the least populated of the eight federal districts of Russia. India was the first country to establish a resident Consulate in Vladivostok in 1992. Current engagement of India with the region is limited to isolated pockets such as the Irkut Corporation in Irkutsk where the MiG and Sukhoi aircraft are built and over $6 billion worth of investments by OVl in the Sakhalin 1 project.
In Chennai, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India and Russia are setting up a $1 billion fund to promote mutual investments in infrastructure and technology projects. Both countries would contribute $500 million to the fund.