Biz forum meetings today to set tone for Medvedev visit

MOSCOW: Over 100 business leaders, including over 30 Russian bluechip firms' CEOs, are expected to hold talks with their Indian counterparts in New Delhi on Monday ahead of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit for the 11th Indo-Russian Annual Summit on Tuesday (December 21).

Addressing the concerns expressed by both sides over the low level of economic exchange under the two-decades-old strategic bilateral partnership between India and Russia is high on the agenda for the summit.

According to diplomatic sources, business leaders in both countries have exhibited heightened interest in each others' economies in light of success stories such as ONGC Videsh's investment in the Sakhalin-1 and Imperial Energy projects and Russia's Sistema entry into the Indian mobile space in consortium with an Indian company, Shyam Teleservices.

The joint venture agreement inked recently between Russia's Severstal and India's National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) for setting up a $5 billion steel plant in Karnataka and Reliance Industries' JV agreement with Russian petrochemicals giant SIBUR for manufacturing synthetic rubber also demonstrate the growing interest of firms from both sides to take up long-term projects in either country.

In his November 30 address to Parliament, Medvedev underscored that Russia's foreign policy should not be “limited to missiles”.

“We have to develop our economic diplomacy, evaluating its results based on practical benefits it produces for modernisation, first and foremost, creating joint ventures in Russia, supplying high-quality, inexpensive goods to the Russian market,” Medvedev said, underscoring Moscow's priorities in economic partnerships with countries like India.