New Delhi, Moscow agree to resolve issues quickly

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on Wednesday agreed to resolve outstanding issues in bilateral economic ties.

Moscow is keen to take advantage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign to offset impact of the sanctions imposed on Russia by US and European Union on the issue of Ukraine.

New Delhi and Moscow also agreed that Russian company MGK Lighting Technologies would set up a plant in Karnataka to manufacture lighting equipment for “general and special purposes”. Another Russian company AFK Sistema would set up a smart city in India, they agreed.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin likely to visit New Delhi next month to hold the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Swaraj and Rogozin chaired a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), which took note of important outstanding issues requiring immediate attention and recommended “early resolution of such issues amicably in tune with the spirit of traditional friendship and mutual trust between the two countries.”

The “outstanding issues” include the issue of cancellation of the 2G telecom licences awarded to Sistema Shyam Teleservices Limited or SSTL, a joint venture of Russia’s Sistema JSFC and Shyam Group of India.

They agreed to set up a joint study group for the proposed agreement between India and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation for trade in goods and services.

The commission reviewed “the progress on a broad spectrum of bilateral issues including trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation and suggested actions for realising the full potential of the important relationship,” according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs after the meeting between Swaraj and Rogozin.

They agreed to enhance bilateral trade through the International North South Corridor Project by freight forwarders and exporters particularly to bolster trade in agriculture and food processing industry.

­DH News Service