Russia, India to boost trade ties

Russia and India are set to boost energy and trade ties with a meeting between on FridaRussian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Uzbekistan.

“There are plans to discuss issues of ‘saturation’ of the Indian market with Russian fertilizer and bilateral food supplies,” the Kremlin has said.

The Kremlin said the issues will be discussed in a meeting to be held on the sidelines of a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional security bloc.

“First of all, moves, aimed at boosting bilateral trade flows, will be looked at. The trade turnover reached $11.5bn in the first half of 2022, up almost 120 percent year-on-year,” it said.

India’s fertilizer imports from Russia rose to $1.03bn in April-July compared with $773.54m in the whole of the last fiscal year to March 31, 2022, according to the Indian commerce ministry’s website.

India is looking for a three-year fertilizer import deal with Russia.

Attempts to sign a long-term fertilizer import deal earlier this year were hit by the challenging geopolitical situation after Russia launched what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24.

India’s Prime Minister Modi has sought greater energy cooperation with Russia despite Western pressure to cut ties with Moscow following the Russian aggression in Ukraine.

“India is keen to strengthen its partnership with Russia on Arctic issues. There is also immense potential for cooperation in the field of energy,” Modi said last week addressing a virtual meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

Putin will also meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit in Uzbekistan’s ancient Silk Road city of Samarkand.

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India and China are key buyers of Russian energy, helping to cushion Moscow from the effects of Western sanctions and allowing the two Asian economies to secure raw materials at discounts compared with supplies from other countries.

The two Asian nations have not publicly criticized Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, despite the outcry in the West.

India, which rarely used to buy Russian oil, has emerged as Moscow’s second-biggest oil customer after China.

Refiners in India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, and consumers have been snapping up discounted Russian oil, shunned by some Western countries and companies.

The Group of Seven countries is working to cap the price of Russian oil from December 5 in an attempt to cut the price Russia receives for oil without reducing its petroleum exports to world markets.

Zainab Sa’id