Describing India as a “trusted friend,” Russian Prime Minister Victor Zubkov has said that the issue of bilateral economic trade and interaction should not be “dramatised” as indicators of quantity are not decisive.

“Your country is perceived here as a trusted friend and as in Russia we have a saying: ‘an old friend is better than two new ones’,” Zubkov said before leaving on his maiden three-day visit to India beginning on Monday.
During his visit, he is scheduled to inaugurate the ‘Year of Russia’ in New Delhi and hold high- profile talks with the Indian leaders to cement bilateral ties in all the spheres.

“In November 2007 my colleague Manmohan Singh visited Russia on an official visit. My visit to India is the continuation of this dialogue. So the issues of discussions are not few,” Zubkov said, noting the ‘multi-faceted’ character of the bilateral cooperation.

Responding to a question about the low level of bilateral economic interaction and trade Zubkov said that there was no need to dramatise the situation.

“Why should the situation be dramatised like this? The indicators of quantity are not decisive. Main thing is quality. And from this point everything is fine,” he underscored.

Zubkov who is leading a business delegation for the second Indo-Russian Trade and Investment Forum noted an upward trend in the trade in recent years.

He expressed confidence that it will further grow with efforts of ‘traditional structures’ like Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation and new mechanism like Joint Task Force.