India, Russia welcome consultation on FTA

India and Russia on Friday welcomed the commencement of consultations on Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and its member states, and New Delhi.

The two countries, in a joint statement, also supported the idea to expedite the negotiation process on FTA.

Both the sides also reviewed the progress on the achievement of the goal to increase two-way investment to USD 30 billion by the year 2025 and noted with satisfaction that both countries were on the way to achieving this target.

They noted that bilateral trade increased by more than 20 per cent in 2017 and have agreed to work towards its further increase and diversification. The two countries also expressed their support for promoting bilateral trade in national currencies.

It was also announced that the first meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue between the NITI Aayog of India and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation would be held later in 2018 in Russia.

The progress in the implementation of priority investment projects in the spheres of mining, metallurgy, power, oil and gas, railways, pharmaceuticals, information technology, chemicals, infrastructure, automobile, aviation, space, ship building and manufacturing of different equipment was also reviewed by the two sides.

The two countries also welcomed the establishment of a pharmaceutical plant by Advance Pharma Company in Russia while underlining the importance of expansion of collaboration in the aluminum sector.

Putting forth its intention to increase import of fertilizers from Russia, New Delhi welcomed Russian companies to participate in the development of industrial corridors in India, including in areas of road and rail infrastructure, smart cities, construction of wagons and creation of a joint transportation logistics company.

Underscoring the importance of cooperation in the area of transport education, personnel training and scientific support in the implementation of international transport corridors, the two countries have decided to maintain cooperation between the National Rail and Transportation Institute (Vadodara) of the Republic of India and the Russian University of Transport (MIIT).

Emphasising on the need of connectivity between India and Russia, the two sides called for the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) through intensified efforts by finalising pending issues related to customs authorities, development of road and rail infrastructure and financial facilitation through bilateral discussions as well as discussions with other partner countries at the earliest.

A trilateral meeting between India, Russia and Iran on the sidelines of 'Transport Week - 2018' in Moscow in order to discourse on the issue of Indian goods transportation through the territory of Iran to Russia was also announced.

The Indian side informed Russia of its accession to the Customs Convention on International Transport of Goods under cover of TIR Carnets. Both the sides agreed to make efforts to convene the INSTC Ministerial and Coordination meeting on priority.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between National Small Industries Corporation of India and the Russian Small and Medium Business Corporation.

Russia offered its expertise in tax collection based on satellite navigation technologies for the realisation of joint projects in India including in the framework of above mentioned industrial corridors.

In order to promote trade, the two countries agreed to share the list of their trade exhibitions and fairs as well as of institutions, export promotion councils, and other export-related institutions from where one can get the details of exporters and importers from India and Russia to facilitate their interaction.

For the enhancement of trade, both the sides supported the early launch of the Green Corridor project aimed at the simplification of customs operations in respect of goods being transported between India and Russia.

They also welcomed the efforts aimed at the signing of agreements between Assam and Sakhalin, Haryana and Bashkortostan, Goa and Kaliningrad, Odisha and Irkutsk, Visakhapatnam and Vladivostok.

India and Russia also praised the level of cooperation achieved in diamond sector, including the signing of new long-term contracts for rough diamond supplies by PJSC ALROSA to Indian companies, opening of the ALROSA representative office in Mumbai and joint financing by the ALROSA and the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council of India of the International Diamonds Producers Association on the development of programmes of generic marketing of diamonds, including in the Indian market.

Both the countries also noted recent investments by Indian companies in the diamond manufacturing in the Russian Far East. A high-level Russian delegation will visit India to organise investment road-shows and promote greater Indian investments in the Far East.

India and Russia agreed to promote joint projects in third countries in sectors such as railways, energy and others where there is a complementarity between them in terms of technology and resources.

Welcoming the 10th Indian-Russian Working Group on Science and Technology, which was jointly supervised by the Department of Science and Technology of India and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, in February 2018, the two countries agreed to work together in the science sector.

India and Russia also agreed to revive cooperation under the Integrated Long-Term Programme for cooperation in the field of science, technology and innovations between the Government of India and the Government of the Russian Federation by drawing up a roadmap for further cooperation between different laboratories, academia, universities, institutions and organisations in science and technology areas of mutual priority.

Hailing the signing of the Joint Declaration - "India-Russia Economic Cooperation: The Way Forward" by Minister of Commerce and Industry of India Suresh Prabhu and Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Oreshkin in March 2018 in New Delhi -- the two sides agreed to hold the first ever India-Russia Start-Up Summit in December 2018 by the Confederation of Indian Industries and Skolkovo Foundation.

They also agreed to launch an online portal that would enable startups, investors, incubators and aspiring entrepreneurs of both countries to interact and provide relevant resources to expand and enable globalisation of start-ups.

Stressing on the importance of the longstanding and mutually beneficial India-Russia cooperation in outer space, the countries agreed to set up measurement data collection ground stations of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System NavIC and the Russian Navigation Satellite System GLONASS in the territory of Russia and India.

Noting with satisfaction the longstanding cooperation between Indian and Russian scientists in the Antarctic, the two sides also expressed their interest in the development of mutually beneficial cooperation in the Arctic, inter alia in the sphere of joint scientific research.