India, Russia review bilateral trade and economic ties

Russia has become the largest supplier of oil to India since Western sanctions were slapped on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.

In a bid to give a fresh push to investments, India and Russia reviewed bilateral trade and economic cooperation, including the deficit in bilateral trade, during a virtual meeting on Monday.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who is also the Minister of Trade and Industry, and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar co-chaired the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

"The two sides agreed to work together to unlock the full potential of India-Russia bilateral trade and economic relations including through addressing the trade deficit and market access issues," a statement from the External Affairs Ministry said.

Jaishankar and Manturov reviewed the progress achieved in the various Working Group and Sub-Group Meetings under the IRIGC-TEC framework since their meeting in Moscow in November 2022 and gave guidance to prepare ground for the next in person meeting, which will be held in New Delhi at mutually convenient dates.

​The Inter-governmental Commission is a mechanism for regularly monitoring bilateral progress across the sectors of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries which was set up by an Agreement on inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technological Cooperation signed in May 1992.

The first session of IRIGC was held on September 13-14 1994 and 23 meetings of the mechanism have been held so far.

The 24th IRIGC-TEC meeting will be hosted by India and Monday's review meeting will pave the way for the same.

Russia has become the largest supplier of oil to India ever since its invasion on Ukraine. From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Russia's share of India's imports rose to 1.62 million barrels per day in February, taking a 35 per cent share.

India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been snapping Russian oil that was available at a discount after some in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.

The rise in Russian imports have been at the expense of Saudi Arabia and United States. Oil import from Saudi fell 16 per cent month-on-month and that from the US declined 38 per cent.

According to Vortexa, Russia now accounts for more than the combined oil bought from Iraq and Saudi Arabia -- India's mainstay oil suppliers for decades.