Putin orders govt to work out options to develop trade, incl. logistics, settlements, ahead of visit to India
MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Cabinet and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov personally to work out options for developing trade and economic relations with India, including issues concerning logistics, settlements and eliminating trade imbalances, ahead of an official visit to the country scheduled for the end of this year.
Current bilateral trade between Russia and India falls short of the two countries' potential, Putin said Thursday at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club.
"The main thing right now is for us to build efficient and mutually beneficial trade and economic ties. Our trade turnover with India is now around $63 billion. Do you realize what India's [population is]? One and a half billion people, while in Belarus there are 10 million. Our turnover with Belarus is $50 billion and with India [it is] $63 billion. This clearly does not correspond to our potential possibilities," Putin said.
"We need to solve a whole range of problems in order to unlock our capabilities and potential advantages. First of all, of course, we need to resolve the issue with logistics. Secondly, we need to resolve issues related to financing, with processing of payments. Here there is work to do and there are possibilities. This can be done within the framework of BRICS instruments, it can be done on a bilateral basis, using the rupee, using the currencies of third countries, using electronic forms of settlement," Putin said.
"Quite recently, literally a few days ago, I gave an instruction, another instruction to the government, to the co-chairman of the intergovernmental commission on our side, Mr. Manturov, for him and his colleagues from the government to think through all the possible options for developing trade and economic ties. And now the Russian government is working on this and it will propose the relevant joint steps to our Indian friends," Putin said.
Recalling that he will visit India at the beginning of December and meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Putin said Modi is a reliable partner for Russia.
Another problem that Russia and India are working on right now is the imbalance in bilateral trade, he said. In order to address the trade imbalance, Russia could "buy more agricultural products in India, and medicines, drugs," Putin said.
Asked by a discussion club participant about the proposal to develop relations through the creation of a Russian-Indian fund for cooperation on technology, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, Putin said he is prepared to add this proposal to his instruction to the government.
"The idea, in principle, is a good one as regards joining forces in key areas of development, including the area of artificial intelligence development and use," he said.
However, in working out common projects with India it is also necessary to focus on relations at the level of businesses, not just intergovernmental ties, he said.
"There are certain particulars that come down to the fact that the Indian economy is, foremost, a purely private economy and it develops based on private initiatives. One must even often deal directly with companies there rather than with the state. While the state, basically, just like here, is engaged in regulating these relations. Of course, we must strive at the state level to create the conditions for the positive development of relations in the economy between participants in economic activity, but also directly work with companies," Putin said.
