India, Russia set trade target of $100 billion by 2030

New Delhi: Amid unprecedented surge in bilateral trade, India and Russia on Tuesday announced an initiative to develop strategic areas of economic cooperation to achieve a bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2030.

The initiative was announced after the 22nd edition of the annual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

The two sides signed nine MoUs across sectors, including the one to further increase trade and joint investment projects between Russia's Far East and India. ET had first reported that increasing Indian investments in resource-rich Russian Far East is among the agenda for the annual summit.


The joint statement on economic cooperation encompasses introduction of digital financial instruments, exploring new long-term contracts for crude supplies, increase in trade volumes via INSTC, Northern Sea Route and Vladivostok-Chennai corridor.

The two sides shared approaches on building a new architecture of stable transport corridors and paying close attention to the development of production and marketing chains in Eurasia, including for the purpose of implementing the idea of a Greater Eurasian space. This, experts said, would balance Chinese initiatives in Eurasia.

India and Russia agreed to support cooperation in developing shipping through the Northern Sea Route in the Arctic region. For this purpose, they expressed readiness to establish a joint working body within the IRIGC-TEC. India has shown interest in working with Rosatom in the Arctic region.

The two sides agreed on development of a bilateral settlement system using national currencies and consistent introduction of digital financial instruments into mutual settlements. ET had first reported that the two leaders would focus on devising mechanisms on easy and quick transfer of money between the two sides in the backdrop of a ban on the use of SWIFT by Russia. On the summit's agenda was the use of RuPay cards in Russia and MiR cards in India.

It was decided to increase the volume of trade in agricultural products. The initiative also encompasses development of cooperation in key energy sectors, including nuclear energy.

India and Russia also agreed to explore the possibility for further increasing the supply of coking coal to India, and the opportunities of exporting anthracite coal from Russia to India.

For eliminating the non-tariff/tariff barriers in trade, including protective measures and administrative barriers, the leaders appreciated the initial meeting in March 2024 to commence full negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union. The leaders also directed their relevant officials to explore the possibility of commencing negotiations for signing a bilateral free-trade agreement in services and investments.