India, Russia review economic ties in energy, trade and investment; agree to boost inter-regional cooperation

New Delhi: India and Russia on Saturday decided to actively promote inter-regional cooperation as the two sides undertook a comprehensive review of economic cooperation in key areas, including energy, trade and investment, during a meeting of the inter-governmental commission in New Delhi. The meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. [caption id=“attachment_4273187” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with Russian deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin. Image courtesy: @MEAIndia[/caption] “Deepening the special and privileged strategic partnership, Swaraj welcomes Rogozin,” MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Apart from raising the level of the Joint Working Group on trade and economic cooperation to that of Deputy Minister/Commerce Secretary level and creating a mechanism to discuss and remove barriers to trade, if any, the two sides also created working groups to boost ties in agriculture and pharmaceuticals, an MEA statement said. Kumar said that external affairs minister and deputy prime minister of Russia Rogozin undertook a comprehensive review of economic cooperation in the areas of trade and investment, transport, energy, agriculture, industry and space under IRIGC-EC (framework). “Agreement to actively promote inter-regional cooperation which has significant untapped potential for cooperation” was among some of the concrete outcomes of the meeting, the ministry said. Noting the impressive growth of 22 percent in bilateral trade in the year 2016-17, the commission assessed the progress on issues concerning the most significant aspects of our bilateral economic cooperation. The discussions also brought out action points for both sides, implementation of which would assist in early realization of the full potential of this important relationship, it said. The two sides also decided to expedite implementation of the Green Corridor for exchange of pre-arrival data between the customs administrations of the two countries, the ministry added. Rogozin also called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and met the defence minister and the national security adviser.