New Delhi/Moscow, Nov 12: Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Tuesday confirmed Moscow's intentions to conclude a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the Eurasian Economic Union and India -- as well as a bilateral agreement on services and investments -- while spotlighting that the volume of mutual trade between the two countries has grown more than fivefold over the past five years, including by nine per cent in the first eight months of the current year.

As he co-chaired the 25th meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission in New Delhi along with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, Manturov also drew attention to the importance of expanding cooperation between Indian and Russian banks, mentioning that the current share of settlements in national and alternative currencies has reached almost 90 per cent.

"What is important is that this growth is accompanied by diversification of the structure of mutual trade. Along with traditional supplies of energy resources and mineral fertilizers, we have increased food exports, primarily sunflower and soybean oil," the Russian leader said at the meeting, according to a statement released by his office in Moscow.

"In turn, Russia, in addition to purchasing agricultural products, imports industrial equipment, components, medicines and substances from India. The tasks of further expanding the product range and reducing the imbalance in trade will be enshrined in the programme for the development of economic cooperation until 2030," Manturov stated.

The India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) serves as the highest-level forum for bilateral economic collaboration between the two countries, encompassing a broad range of areas from trade to cultural exchange.

Russia's PMO revealed that special attention at the meeting was paid to the development of bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, engine building and microelectronics, chemistry, metallurgy, digital technologies, railway engineering, as well as in the field of space exploration.

"We see opportunities for expanding the supply of equipment and components to support the Indian national manned space program 'Gaganyaan'. Projects in the field of satellite navigation are at an advanced stage," Manturov said.

The meeting also discussed cooperation in the humanitarian fields, in particular in the field of higher education with Manturov emphasising the need to simplify the procedure for mutual recognition of educational documents and academic degrees. In addition, the possibility of training Indian specialists based on Russian secondary vocational education programmes with the prospect of their subsequent employment at Russian enterprises is also being worked out by Moscow and New Delhi.

The two countries are working to intensify cooperation in the field of culture and tourism and create a separate working group on the issue within the commission.

"It is no less important to coordinate efforts in the transport sector. We are interested in expanding direct air traffic between our countries. Flights are currently carried out only by Russian Aeroflot, which operates 12 regular flights per week. We expect an increase in the frequency of flights, the development of the route network, as well as the resumption of flights by Indian air carriers," said the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.

Following the meeting, Manturov and EAM Jaishankar signed the final protocol of the 25th meeting of the IRIGC-TEC.

The visiting Russian Deputy PM also called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, discussing issues of interbank and credit-financial cooperation, as well as prospects for concluding an intergovernmental agreement on the promotion and mutual protection of investments.

--IANS

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