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India to deepen economic ties with Russia despite Western economic sanctions

Last week, the UN Population Fund said in its State of World Population report that India will become the world’s most populous nation by mid-year 2023

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A 50-member delegation of leading Indian agro and food processing sector companies is currently on a visit to Russia to take part in buyers and sellers’ meetings in Moscow and St Petersburg amidst a massive push by the South Asian country to further deepen economic ties with Russia, despite the Western economic sanctions against the country.

The Federation of Indian Exporters Organization (FIEO), India’s apex trade body, also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Business Russia to promote trade and investments between the two countries, during the on-going delegation visit, the trade body said in a media statement.

“The two organizations will cooperate to arrange exhibitions, buyers-sellers’ meetings, workshops, seminars and encourage enterprises to work in tandem with their counterparts for joint ventures,” Ajay Sahai, Director General and CEO of FIEO, said.

The Indian entrepreneurs are also exploring opportunities in diverse business ventures such as ready-to-eat meals, fish meal, animal feed, soyabean apart from conventional products, according to N K Kagliwal, a board member of FIEO, who is leading the business delegation. 

“We are looking to increase our agro and processed food exports from about $750 million to over $3 billion in the next 3 years,” he said. 

The FIEO board member, however, said the rupee-ruble trade mechanism is “moving forward, but the pace is slow ”.

Sahai said exporters, importers and bankers, on both sides, have to do a little extra work to resolve the issues related to the rupee-ruble trade.  

“A direct exchange rate between rupee and ruble will help streamline the process in a big way,” he said.

Sahai also said though the huge trade deficit with Russia is a concern, it is also an opportunity to push exports exponentially.

We have to diversify exports to automobiles and auto components, electronics, medical devices, solar cells, textile, food and agriculture etc,” he said.

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Nicole Abigael

Nicole Abigael is a Reporter at Arabian Business and the host of the AB Majlis podcast. She covers a diverse range of topics including luxury real estate, high-net-worth individuals, technology, and lifestyle...