India, Russia to boost ties to achieve $30 bn bilateral trade by 2025

India and Russia have called for diversifying and deepening of economic ties in priority sectors to meet the bilateral trade target of USD 30 billion by 2025, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday.

This was emphasised upon by Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal during a business session from August 11-13 in Vladivostok, Russia.

A delegation including chief ministers of Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Goa and about 140 Indian companies was led by Goyal at the session.

He urged companies of both countries to discuss partnerships directly and come up with concrete project proposals.

The ministry said in a statement that a number of MoUs were signed between regions of the Russian Far East and five states of India to expand and strengthen cooperation in the areas of trade, economy, investment, scientific and technical cooperation.

An MoU was also signed between Amity University and Far East Federal University to enhance relations and develop academic and cultural exchange in areas of education and research.

An agreement was also concluded on the establishment of the representative offices, the Centre for Yoga, and the Pushkin Centre for Russian Language and cultural studies, the statement added.

Chief ministers of the four states sought investments and collaboration in the field of energy, agriculture and food-processing.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani talked about possibilities of collaboration in gold and diamond mining.

In 2018-19, the bilateral trade between the countries stood at USD 8.3 billion.