India, Russia determined to expand economic cooperation including energy ties

New Delhi: India and Russia on Tuesday vowed to expand economic engagement, including New Delhi’s imports of petroleum products from its “proven” partner, although Foreign Minister S Jaishankar reiterated New Delhi’s call for an end to the Ukraine conflict because of its impact on global energy and food security.

The foreign minister made the comments after extensive talks in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, which focused on strengthening trade and economic ties while promoting connectivity, defense and Cooperation in the field of nuclear energy. .

It was Jaishankar’s first visit to Moscow since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February, and his talks with Russian interlocutors came a week before the G-20 summit in Indonesia, which is expected to broadly discuss the conflict.

“Minister Lavrov and I have noticed a significant increase in our bilateral trade this year and are focusing on how to make it more sustainable. We are naturally concerned about the trade imbalance, and I have proposed to the Russian side how to address obstacles to India Barriers to expanding exports,” Jashankar said at a joint media briefing with Russia’s foreign minister.

On economic ties, Jashankar said there was a “natural convergence” of interests between India and Russia, adding: “When we do this, we are not only serving our national interests, but we…as a major G20 economy. …is actually helping to stabilize the world economy as well.” On the issue of the West’s pressure on India not to buy Russian crude and the G7’s proposed cap on Russian oil prices, Jashankar said New Delhi’s approach was to ensure access to energy supplies the best way.

“India-Russian relations are good for us. So if it’s good for me, I want to keep doing it,” he said. Regarding the Ukraine conflict, Jashankar referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s September visit to Samar, Uzbekistan The message conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin during the meeting between Khan and Putin was that “today’s era is not a war” and that the Ukrainian conflict is the main feature of Russia. talks.

“As Prime Minister Narendra Modi conveyed to President Putin in Samarkand in September, this is not an era of war. The global economy is too interdependent and there will be no major conflict anywhere and major consequences elsewhere,” he said. Say.

“On top of the severe stress caused by two years of Covid-19, we are seeing growing concerns about energy and food security from the conflict. The pain is felt very strongly in the global South in particular,” Jashankar said.

“Therefore, India strongly advocates a return to dialogue and diplomacy. We are clearly on the side of peace, respect for international law and support for the UN Charter,” he added.

In his opening remarks to his meeting with Lavrov, Jaishankar referred to decades of “unusually stable” and “time-tested” India-Russia relations, with the goal of a modern, balanced, mutually beneficial, sustainable and long-term relationship. contact between the parties.

Lavrov commented at a media briefing that the talks were “fruitful” and welcomed “positive developments” in bilateral trade, while expressing confidence that the goal of annual trade of $30 billion will be achieved as soon as possible.

“We welcome the positive dynamics of bilateral trade. By September 2022, trade volume has increased by 133% compared to the same period last year, almost reaching the $17 billion mark. We believe that the set by the leaders of Russia and India will The target of raising the annual trade volume to US$30 billion will soon be achieved,” he said.

The Russian Foreign Minister said that the two sides agreed that strengthening the Russia-India partnership is in the fundamental interests of the two countries and will help maintain international and regional security and stability.

“We pointed to good prospects for cooperation in the energy sector, including increased hydrocarbon exports from Russia to the Indian market and mutual participation in production projects, including in the Far East and on the Russian Federation’s Arctic shelf,” Lavrov said.

Jaishankar said at the briefing that India will help as much as possible with issues such as food and fertilizer transportation or any other issues.

“In fact, what I’m trying to say is that for any move to reduce risks to the global economy and stabilize the global order at this stage; India will support it,” he noted.

Regarding India’s crude oil imports from Russia, Jashankar said that India’s fundamental obligation is to ensure that Indian consumers have the best possible access to international markets on the most favorable terms.

“I think the fact that I’m here today with a delegation reviewing our cooperation to see how we can move forward and create a long-term sustainable foundation is most telling,” he said.

“Russia has been a stable and proven partner for us, and as I said, any objective assessment of our decades-long relationship will confirm that it has actually provided our two countries very, very Good service,” he said.

“So if it has served my country very, very well over the decades, I think you can see my clear interest and commitment to keeping this relationship strong and stable,” the minister noted.
On the issue of oil supply, Jashankar said that the energy market is under pressure, which is caused by a combination of factors.

“But as the world’s third-largest consumer of oil and gas today, a consumer whose income level is not very high, our fundamental obligation is to ensure that Indian consumers have the best possible access to international markets on the most favourable terms. Markets,” He says.

“In this regard, honestly, we have seen the Indo-Russian relationship work in our favor. So if it works in my favor, I want to keep doing it,” he said.

The foreign minister said India and Russia have been trying to find ways to expand bilateral trade and introduce more long-term stability and growth factors.

“Some of these discussions are now bearing fruit due to the pressures the global economy is currently experiencing, including from the conflict in Ukraine. Minister Lavrov and I have noticed a significant increase in our bilateral trade this year and are focusing on how to make it more Sustainability,” he said.

At the same time, Jashankar expressed concern about the trade imbalance and said he proposed to the Russian side how to address the “obstacles” that are preventing India from expanding exports to Russia.

“We reviewed the progress of our space and nuclear programs. It is also important that our time-tested defense relationship continues to run smoothly,” he said.

“It is worth noting that our cooperation on energy and fertilizers has been strengthening and our achievements over the past few years have become the basis for us to do more. Foreign Minister Lavrov of course addressed some of these issues in his speech, ‘ he added.

The talks also focused on terrorism and climate change challenges, Jaishankar said.

The two sides also discussed defense cooperation, Lavrov said in his comments. “We have studied in detail the status and prospects of military-technical cooperation and joint production of modern weapons. We attach great importance to space exploration in areas such as satellite navigation, space science, and manned programs,” he said.