INST Corridor, Indian Companies In Moscow: Envoy Alipov Shares Vision For Stronger India-Russia Ties

Russia’s envoy Denis Alipov said that despite Western sanctions, India and Russia will continue to strengthen their bilateral and trade ties, while speaking to news agency Sputnik India.

He said following the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, there were some issues with regard to trade but both nations have successfully overcome those difficulties.

“In the first months after the launch of the special military operation in Ukraine there were certain difficulties with supplying Russian goods to India and vice versa. However, today we have successfully overcome most of these barriers,” Alipov was quoted as saying by Sputnik News India.

Alipov said Russia has great hopes regarding the implementation of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project. The INSTC project is aimed at increasing connectivity between Central Asia and Europe.

The INSTC project is a 7,200km long multi-mode transport project which will be built to carry goods from Mumbai to Chabahar via Azerbaijan to Moscow, and will encompass India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine.

India, Russia and Iran have shown interest in bringing this project to life.

He also said that the closure and exit of Western businesses opens up possibilities for Indian companies. He said Indian companies can help Russia’s metallurgical, aviation, wood-processing and consumer goods production industries. “The Russian business community is very serious about strengthening ties with India,” Alipov said.

He said sanctions will continue to increase challenges but it won’t affect the relationship between both nations. Alipov said that Russia remains confident that Indian exports to Russia will gain momentum in the near future.

Alipov also said that on many levels India and Russia partnership has strengthened. He outlined that cooperation has expanded in the fields of communications, diamond processing, forestry, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, tourism, railroads, metallurgy, civil aviation, shipbuilding and oil refining.

The envoy also pointed out that military and military-technical cooperation are also being strengthened.

He also said that statistics speak for themselves. He noted that bilateral trade amounted to $6.4 billion – which was twice as much than the same period last year.

He said if these volumes can be maintained the turnover will be more than $19 billion by the end of the year. He also said that in 2021 bilateral trade reached a record $13.6 billion.

The envoy said that Russia sees ‘good prospects’ in India’s pharma, leather, textiles and agri sector. He also said that components for machinery and equipment, telecommunications equipment, organic chemistry products are sectors where Russia sees good opportunities to collaborate and expand cooperation.

(with inputs from ANI)

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