India,Russia can take giant leap forward through mutual design

Ranchi, Jan 31 (UNI) Russian Ambassador to India Vyacheslav I Trubnikov today asserted that volume of trade between the two countries increased in the past few years and there was room for further improvement.

Mr Trubnikov said against trade of 1.7 billion dollars in 2004, the figure stood at five billion dollars last year and hoped to double the amount by 2010.

Talking to newspersons here at the Heavy Engineering Corporation Ltd headquarters, he said Indo-Russia tie should not be seen as buyer-seller relations any more. ''Both can now take a giant leap forward through mutual design and exchange of expertise in respective fields,'' he added.

The Ambassador felt that the business communities on both sides required to know each other as lack of clear perception on the exact position came in the way of getting the potential fully utilised.

''I feel the business community in Russia has a vague impression about India as it was seen more in terms of tsunami, forest, jungles ...and same is the case with their counterpart in this country as common perception here is that Russia has become small after disintegration...'', he said.

Mr Trubnikov said time had come to erase such perception.

Earlier, he called on Chief Minister Madhu Koda and offered his country's support of exploring gold and diamond.

He, however, said a proper geological survey must be carried out before carrying out the task.

The diplomat reiterated that his country was not averse to private collaboration but that did not mean exclusion of PSUs.

A Russian delegation headed by him later visited three plants of the HEC.

The HEC was established in collaboration with erstwhile USSR.

UNI PRS PL RN1731