Russia's deputy prime minister calls on PM Modi ahead of crucial Indo-Russian conference

NEW DELHI: Russia's deputy prime minister Denis Manturov on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Cooperation, which is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Tuesday.

The two leaders exchanged views on enhancing India-Russia cooperation in various areas, including trade and economic ties, energy, connectivity among others.

"Glad to meet Russia’s first deputy PM Denis Manturov today. Happy to see that teams on both sides are working together to implement decisions taken during my recent visits and meetings with President Putin to further strengthen the India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership," PM Modi said in a social media post on X after the meeting.



Earlier in the day, Manturov asserted that Russia-India business relations continue to strengthen amid "external economic pressure."

"An objective indicator of this is the record volume of trade turnover we reached last year. There are all the prerequisites to surpass this achievement this year. At the same time, in addition to the quantitative growth of mutual trade, it is important to diversify its structure—not just to balance commodity flows, but also to increase the share of high-tech products," Manturov said at the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai.

He also highlighted other sectors, including increasing agricultural productivity through genetic and biotechnology, precision farming systems, irrigation and reclamation technologies, as well as building competencies in high-tech means of production and technologies for transitioning to a closed-cycle economy. He also noted opportunities for collaboration in space services, where the two countries can work more intensively in the near future.

Manturov and external affairs minister S Jaishankar will co-chair the 25th session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological, and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), which serves as the highest-level forum for bilateral economic collaboration between the two countries, covering a broad range of areas from trade to cultural exchange.