Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Concluding a significant three-day visit to Russia, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, reaffirmed the strength and depth of the India-Russia strategic partnership, co-chairing the 26th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) and holding high-level meetings with the Russian leadership.
From August 19 to 21, Jaishankar met Russian President Vladimir Putin, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and also engaged with Russian scholars and think tanks.
During his meeting with President Putin, Jaishankar “conveyed personal greetings of the Prime Minister and discussed key issues of the bilateral agenda and contemporary global issues of mutual interest, including the developments related to Ukraine,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a press release.
Earlier on August 20, Jaishankar co-chaired the 26th IRIGC-TEC session with Deputy PM Manturov, where both sides stressed the need to address tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, remove bottlenecks in logistics, promote connectivity, effect payment mechanisms smoothly, and finalise the programme of economic cooperation till 2030.”
The early conclusion of the India-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement and regular engagements between Indian and Russian businesses were emphasised as critical to achieving the revised bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2030.