New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks here with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov and discussed various bilateral issues including trade, energy, space and the upcoming summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in Russia in September next.
Putin had formally invited Modi to be the chief guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, in early September.
"Productive discussion with Russian Deputy PM Yury Borisov, co-chair of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission-TEC. Preparing for the September Summit between PM Narendra Modi and President Putin," Jaishankar tweeted.
Borisov, heading an 18-member strong Russian delegation representing various ministries to India, co-chaired the India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) with Jaishankar.
This was their first inter-sessional meeting since Jaishankar assumed office, according to a Ministry of External Affairs statement.
"With a view to prepare for the prime minister's forthcoming visit to Vladivostok, as the Chief Guest at the Eastern Economic Forum in early September and the next India-Russia bilateral summit, the two leaders held focussed discussions on bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade and investment, transport, energy, agriculture, industry, and space," it said.
The two sides noted the bilateral trade target of US$ 30 billion set by the two sides to be achieved by 2025 and agreed to take a number of measures towards this end, including expediting negotiations on a Trade Agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union; examining non-tariff barriers existing on both sides and finalising a joint study which is underway to enhance bilateral economic cooperation.
Possibility of enhancing agricultural exports from both sides was also discussed.
In the field of transport, the two sides discussed the possibilities of cooperation in the fields of shipbuilding and inland waterways; expeditiously concluding the ongoing joint study of rail speed upgradation on the Nagpur-Secunderabad sector and possibility of implementation of satellite based tolling on highways.
On their longstanding cooperation in the field of oil and gas, the sides discussed exploring opportunities for investment in both countries.
In the field of energy, the ongoing civil nuclear cooperation was discussed. In the context of Gaganyaan, India's human spaceflight programme, the importance of close cooperation between the respective space agencies, ISRO and Roskosmos was reiterated.
The Russian Deputy Prime Minister took the opportunity to congratulate the External Affairs Minister on the successful launch of Chandrayaan-2.
They also decided to hold the full meeting of the IRIGC-TEC in New Delhi later this year. The External Affairs Minister invited the Russian Deputy Prime Minister for the meeting.
The last IRIGC-TEC meeting was held in Moscow on September 14, 2018.
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