New Delhi: Diplomats from India and Russia held a Business Dialogue in Delhi, where the issue of the trade imbalance between the two countries was addressed. The trade deficit for India leads to the Russian counterparts not being able to use the Indian Rupee for trade. Addressing the issue, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar acknowledged the issue and proposed solutions.
Dr. Jaishankar agreed that India needs to work with its Russian counterparts to address the trade imbalance and that they should be honest about short and medium-term challenges. Addressing the problem of India importing more than it is exporting to Russia, the minister said that there are changes in form of Make in India and added ‘Make in India and Russia’ for Russia has a significant technological strength.
We are discussing the importance of connectivity & the north-south and maritime corridors have been considered. There is also discussion on payment issues like International trade settlement in the Indian rupee: External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar pic.twitter.com/cB3jpQ9xbX
— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023
He said that there have been discussions about payment issues like international trade settlement in the Indian rupee and about the north-south and maritime corridors for connectivity.
Giving solutions to the issue, he proposed more direct flights to be provided for tourists and talked about the ‘people-to-people ties’ between the two nations. He added that India and Russia share a commitment to a ‘multipolar world’ and Russia is looking towards Asia and India.
Russian Deputy PM and Minister for Industry & Trade Denis Valentinovich Manturov, while talking to the media, said that due to a lack of imports from India, the Indian Rupee cannot be used. He added that Russia is looking for balance like they have a USD 200 billion trade with China.
#WATCH | “…Because of a lack of import from India, it’s not enough to use Rupee. We need to boost trade from India. In this case we are looking at balance, like for example, we have with China – we have 200 billion dollars trade with China and it’s balanced…” says Denis… pic.twitter.com/OqWv5rtVpx
— ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2023
Since 2022, there have been multiple reports citing India’s trade deficit with Russia as we imported volumes of discounted crude petroleum. Such imbalance leads to a lack of trade in domestic currencies, Rupee and Rouble in this case. This leads to countries trading in a third currency like the Dollar or Euro.
