India exploring avenues to increase exports to Russia, trade ties top focus during Putin visit

Russian President Putin is visiting India on a two-day trip

India and Russia share an important trade relationship marked by the longstanding strategic partnership between the countries. As the Russian President Vladimir Putin visits India, New Delhi is looking forward to increasing the trade ties with Moscow.

India's total merchandise trade with Russia stands at $68.7 billion. However, the bilateral trade is heavily skewed in Russia's favour with overall imports by India comprising $64 billion while India's exports stand at slightly less than $5 billion.

The bilateral trade is dominated by India's oil imports which saw a sharp increase in the last few years. India has benefited from the discounted Russian oil which has helped keep the domestic fuel prices in check thereby helping India keep a check on its inflation.

During PM Modi's Moscow visit, the two nations also pledged to increase bilateral trade to over $100 billion by 2030.

"Russia is interested in increasing trade exchange. We are interested in increasing supplies of Indian products in the Russian market, and are interested in balancing trade...We are very interested in buying Indian products...," said Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov.

India is exploring multiple avenues to increase exports to Russia.

"Increasing exports in the field of pharmaceuticals, automobiles, agricultural products including marine products," government sources said.

During Putin's visit, multiple agreements and MoUs are expected in the field of shipping, healthcare, fertilisers, connectivity.

Some of India's top exports to Russia include engineering goods, electronics and pharma. India is also planning to diversify its exports especially in the wake of steep tariffs imposed by US, which is India's largest trading partner.