Amidst reports of Russia reaching out for supplies of many manufacturing items, the country’s ambassador in Delhi Denis Alipov has said that Moscow wants to increase trade ties with India. He denied knowledge of any such list of items, but said, “Russia wants to increase trade ties with India and increase the scope of trading items with India.”
Recently news agency Reuters reported that “Moscow has sent India a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery including parts for cars, aircraft and trains.”
Reacting to a question on this report, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said, “This is a regular feature, and I think more shouldn’t be read into that.”
Explaining the bilateral trade ties with Russia, during the weekly media briefing on November 30, Bagchi said, “We have regular engagement with Russia, on how to expand trade or how to sustain it, and this has been going on for many years. From time to time, both countries or both sides indicate areas of interest and priority that they may be looking at, and I would urge that nothing more should be read into this.”
Reuters reported that the list of items from Russia, which runs to nearly 14 pages, includes car engine parts like pistons, oil pumps and ignition coils. There is also demand for bumpers, seatbelts and infotainment systems, it said.
For aircraft and helicopters, Russia requested 41 items including landing gear components, fuel systems, communication systems and fire extinguishing systems, life jackets, and aviation tyres.
Also on the list apparently were raw materials to produce paper, paper bags and consumer packaging, and materials and equipment to produce textiles including yarns and dyes.
India’s bilateral trade with Russia between April and August has soared to an all-time high of $18,229.03 million, riding on a sharp surge in import of oil and fertiliser. Petroleum oil and other fuel items (mineral fuels, mineral oils, and products of their distillation; bituminous substances; mineral waxes) accounted for 84% of India’s total imports from Russia during the same period.
With the sharp spike in trade, Russia has now become India’s seventh-biggest trading partner — up from its 25th position last year. This record jump in the bilateral trade between India and Russia is mainly due to a sudden spike in imports from Moscow, beginning to surge earlier this year. There was an over 500% increase in three months – 561.1% in June, 577.63% in July, and 642.68% in August.
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