India, Russia to expand economic ties to third countries

India and Russia will expand their bilateral economic cooperation to third countries with joint development projects in various sectors and also set up aviation manufacturing ventures for local and global markets.
In a joint declaration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin also said the two countries will cooperate for growth of diamond industry while countering entry of fake stones in this market.
Besides, joint projects will be undertaken in high-speed railways, inland waterways, ports and agriculture sectors.
"We are interested in launching joint projects on exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in the Arctic shelf of the Russian Federation.

"We will develop joint strategies to harness the potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of deep sea exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources, polymetallic nodules and other marine resources..." the declaration said.
The two leaders welcomed cooperation among energy companies from the two countries for modernising of existing power stations and building of new ones in India. They also called for developing joint projects in the area of clean energy.

The major economic objectives include expanding trade and investment and diversification of trade in goods and services, including in banking and financial matters, the declaration said, while calling for settlement of India-Russian trade in national currencies to reduce dependence of bilateral trade on other currencies.

"... We will extend our bilateral technical, economic and scientific cooperation to third countries by undertaking joint development projects in mutually agreed sectors," it said.
Stressing on the importance of developing economic cooperation at regional level, the two leaders said they will facilitate an early commencement of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and India.
The Eurasian Economic Union includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.
India and Russia also agreed to broaden their cooperation in high-technology products, aviation, agriculture, IT, pharma, robotics and artificial intelligence, among others.
"We will work together to further develop the potential for cooperation in the diamond industry...We will also intensify our joint efforts to counter undisclosed synthetic stones entering diamond market and to support the development of generic marketing programmes for diamonds," the two leaders said.

India and Russia will also work together to improve market access for agriculture and food commodities, while joint projects would be explored for effective use of natural resources.
Expecting India to become the world's third largest aviation market by 2020, the two leaders said there is an opportunity for strengthening cooperation in joint production and setting up of joint ventures in India in the field of aviation manufacturing to serve the local demand and for exports to third countries.
This assumes significance in the wake of India promoting regional air connectivity in a big way.
"We will work together to step up joint efforts aimed at modernising infrastructure, explore ways to jointly respond to urbanisation challenges, address issues related to ensuring food security, preserving water and forest resources..." the declaration said.

The two leaders also said the two countries will share experience in carrying out economic reforms and national programmes for the development of SMEs and in skill development.