India-Russia Joint Economic Commission meets in Delhi
The 16th meeting of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation and discussed ways of enhancing cooperation between the two countries in various areas.
The discussions will contribute to the preparations for the proposed visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to India next month for the Indo-Russian Annual Summit, an official statement issued after today's talks said.
The Commission, which guides the conduct of economic cooperation between the two countries, is co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov.
The Commission was set up in May, 1992 and had held its first meeting in Moscow in September, 1994.
Mr Ivanov, who has served as Defence Minister of Russia in the past, is currently responsible for areas such as industrial development, the defence industry complex, transport and communication, science and innovation, border issues, military reserves, and export control.
The statement said the meeting reviewed the entire spectrum of India-Russia trade and economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation was reviewed during the meeting.
Both sides expressed satisfaction at the recent increase in bilateral trade and investments while recognizing that the level of economic engagement remained below its potential give the size of the two economies.
The statement said that, in this context, both sides identified concrete steps to further develop economic relations in priority areas of cooperation.
During his stay here, Mr Ivanov was also due to call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and meet other Indian leaders.
According to the statement, the two sides resolved to work in tandem to pro-actively follow up on today's discussions with a few to finalising some key agreements in the economic sphere to be signed during Mr Medvedev's visit.
The meeting recognised the importance of establishing direct business-to-business contacts in achieving a quantum leap in bilateral trade and investment levels and took note of the steps already taken in this direction. The two sides agreed to make sustained and enhanced efforts to achieve the bilateral trade turnover target of $ 20 billion by 2015.
The Commission called upon relevant Working Groups and agencies on both sides to identify new and innovative joint projects in priority areas of cooperation in order to increase the level of bilateral economic engagement and to speedily achieve the economic targets set by the two countries.
The Commission agreed that, with its proven competence in the fields of IT, financial services, pharmaceuticals and hydrocarbon processing, India could be a strong and reliable partner in Russia's pursuit of modernization of its economy. The Commission asked for the preparation of a forward-looking bilateral programme on cooperation in the areas of modernization and innovation.
The meeting noted the strong interest of Indian companies in participating in the privatisation programme of Russia and called for organizing B2B interactions in this regard inter alia within the framework of India-Russia Forum on Trade & Investment and CEOs Council.
The meeting welcomed the signing of the Inter-Governmental Agreement on Atomic Energy Cooperation for Peaceful Purposes and the Roadmap for Serial Construction of Russian-designed Nuclear Power Plants in India, during the March 2010 visit of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to India.
The Commission also agreed on the need to enhance bilateral cooperation in the hydrocarbons sector and called for tangible steps to move forward on new project proposals.
The two sides also called for sustaining the cooperation between the two countries in the area of trade in rough diamonds.
The meeting also discussed ways of stepping up cooperation in agriculture, pharmaceuticals, information technology, fertilisers, chemicals, mining, metallurgy, banking and finance, science and technology, and tourism and culture.