Jaishankar-Lavrov talks to focus on trade in national currencies, banking

Hydrocarbon development in the Arctic Shelf and Russian Far East to be discussed, Russian Foreign Ministry has said

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov will on Wednesday discuss expansion of the use of national currencies in mutual settlements and prospective implementation of joint projects for development of hydrocarbons on the Arctic shelf and the Russian Far East.

Jaishankar arrived in Russia on Monday for a five-day visit to meet the Russian leadership and attend the annual bilateral summit between both nations.

“Arrived in Moscow. Look forward to my engagements,” Jaishankar said in a post on X along with a picture. "Geopolitics and strategic convergence will always keep India-Russia ties on a positive trajectory,” he said as he interacted with strategic experts.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Russian foreign ministry said the building of sustainable transport, logistics, and banking and financial chains would also be discussed. “The most important areas of interaction between our countries are the expansion of political dialogue in bilateral and multilateral formats, increasing the density of interdepartmental contacts in the fields of economics, finance, energy, production of military equipment, science, and culture,” the statement said.

The trade in national currencies is particularly important for India’s crude oil imports from Russia, currently settled in UAE dirhams. However, Russian companies have increasingly found it difficult to receive dirhams as banking links in the UAE have been under pressure. Russia is currently the largest source of crude for India, supplying an estimated 33 per cent of all crude volumes in November.

Following the imposition of Western sanctions, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed Russian banks to open nine vostro accounts in IndusInd Bank and UCO Bank last November. A vostro account is one maintained by a foreign bank in the domestic bank's currency.

“The ministers will focus on current and future areas of bilateral cooperation, as well as discussing the schedule of upcoming contacts. It is planned to touch upon issues of cooperation in high-tech areas, including space and nuclear,” the ministry added.

The ministers will also compare positions on current international issues. The topic of interaction within the United Nations, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the G20 will be discussed separately. The priorities of Russia’s BRICS chairmanship in the coming year will be discussed. An in-depth exchange of views is expected on the issues of forming a fair security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, the situation in Ukraine and Afghanistan, as well as the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation.

Russia has reiterated that the bilateral relationship, especially the privileged strategic partnership, is built on mutual trust and respect.