NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Tuesday co-chaired the 25th session of the Inter-governmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation in New Delhi on Tuesday. Trade between India and Russia has registered a five-fold increase in the past five years and by 9% during the first eight months of the ongoing year.Bilateral trade between the two countries is $60 billion at present and Jaishankar hoped that it would reach $100 billion by 2030.India hoped that the balance of trade would improve. Manturov hoped for a conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and India and also a bilateral agreement on services and investments.The two sides also spoke about expanding cooperation between Russian and Indian banks as the present share of settlements in national and alternative currencies is 90%. “It is equally important to coordinate efforts in the transport sector. We are interested in expanding direct air traffic between our countries. We expect to increase the frequency of flights, develop the route network, and resume flights of Indian air carriers,” said Manturov.
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