Sanctions boosting Russia-India economic ties – trade mission head
A complicated geopolitical environment and international sanctions on Russia have prompted the establishment of new supply and payment mechanisms, according to the head of the Russian Trade Representative Office in India, Aleksandr Rybas.
In an interview with TASS on Tuesday, he noted that “geopolitical tensions have affected global supply chains, payment systems, logistics, the implementation of multinational projects that have been built over decades, and, finally, the freedom of market relations between states.”
The restrictions, however, actually served as an incentive to boost bilateral cooperation, Rybas said, emphasizing that Indian companies are exploring new niches in the Russian market that opened up after Western companies left the country.
“In 2022 and 2023, cooperation with India in trade developed very dynamically and now shows an upward trend,” he noted.
According to the diplomat, the two nations are increasingly dealing in agriculture, energy, banking, finance, customs, transport, logistics, education, and humanitarian areas. Bilateral ties are also expanding in new fields such as oil extracting, pharmaceuticals, chemical and food industries and diamond processing.
“One of the important areas of work of the trade mission in India is to provide active assistance to Russian companies in finding Indian suppliers for types of products that are in demand in Russia, primarily raw materials, equipment, and components,” he said.
Indian investments in Russia have reached about $14 billion thus far, while Russian capital expenditures in the South Asian country totaled $16 billion, according to Rybas.
Russia’s trade mission in New Delhi traces its history to December 1953, when the first Trade Agreement between the governments of the USSR and India was signed. The mission has been instrumental in leveraging the potential of economic ties between the two countries and boosting bilateral trade.
