Russia and India are working on increasing bilateral trade volumes, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, as the countries pursue a trade target of $100 billion by 2030.
Ties between Russia and India, the world’s most populous country and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, are set to reach new heights, Peskov told RT on the sidelines of the 12th International Scientific and Expert Forum ‘Primakov Readings’ in Moscow.
“We are working on increasing the volume of economic relations. This volume has a stable growth trend. We will work together further,” Peskov said.
The bilateral trade target of $100 billion to be reached by 2030 was set during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in December.
Earlier this month, Putin expressed confidence in achieving the target, saying, “At present, trade turnover stands at approximately $58 to $60 billion. However, all the necessary conditions are in place to intensify our joint efforts and achieve even more ambitious goals.”
China is currently India’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade at $151.1 billion.
India is a country with potential in all areas, Peskov said, adding Moscow’s ties with New Delhi have a “particularly privileged status.”
The Kremlin spokesman said the countries are also “connected by our participation in the international unions.” Russia attaches immense importance to further improving ties with India and reaching new horizons, he said.
Earlier at the Primakov Readings, Peskov posed a query on India’s role in the emerging global order, linking its bilateral ties with Russia, to policy expert Samir Saran, the head of the Observer Research Foundation think tank.
In reply, Saran said the role of Russia-India relations is crucial in the emerging world. India will play a pivotal role in a world “where commodities and climate change and development challenges exist. If the Russians and the Americans were the military superpowers and the Chinese are the economic superpowers, India is the development superpower,” he said.
Saran pointed out that India, with a population of about 1.47 billion, has lifted “more people out of poverty, provided more food, provided more solutions to more people than anyone else in the world.”
The World Bank said last year that the number of Indians living on less than $2.15 a day, the international benchmark for extreme poverty, fell sharply from 16.2% in 2011-12 to just 2.3% in 2022-23.
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