Commerce Ministry delegation to join EAM Jaishankar during Russia visit; Eurasian FTA, rupee-rouble settlement on agenda

EAM Jaishankar’s visit to Russia on August 21 to meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov was confirmed by the Russian foreign ministry earlier this month.

A delegation from the Commerce Ministry will join External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his visit to Russia later this month, government officials have said on August 14.

During a meeting scheduled with Russian officials around August 21, the issue of settlement of trade in local currency is likely to be taken up, along with setting the stage to commence talks for a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) bloc of countries, the officials said. The five members of the bloc are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

Moneycontrol had previously reported that state-run oil refiners had bought Russian oil through UAE-based traders, and settled payments in dirhams as New Delhi had failed to establish a direct rupee-rouble mechanism with Moscow for oil procurement.

India and the five-nation Eurasian Economic Union have been working towards launching formal negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement. “If we reach a breakthrough, then we will begin formal round of talks for the trade deal,” one of the officials said.

EAM Jaishankar’s visit to Russia on August 21 to meet his counterpart Sergey Lavrov was confirmed by the Russian foreign ministry earlier this month.

“The ministers will discuss key issues on our bilateral agenda, as well as key aspects of cooperation within international frameworks,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a brief statement on August 13.

This follows National Security Advisor Ajit Doval’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in August, after US President Trump announced an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian exports in response to New Delhi’s ongoing crude oil purchases from Moscow, raising the total levy to 50 percent.