India and Russia are looking to increase their annual trade by about 50% over the next five years to reach US$100 billion (RM422.2 billion), seeking to reduce tariffs as both countries see mounting tensions with the US, a top envoy said.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Wednesday during a visit to Moscow that the two countries must remove trade bottlenecks and reduce non-tariff barriers to reach the goal. Russia is India’s fourth-largest trading partner, while India is Russia’s second-largest.
Jaishankar’s visit is the latest in a series of diplomatic efforts to fellow founding members of the BRICS group of developing countries, which have all faced prohibitive tariffs and trade threats from US President Donald Trump.
India has edged away from the US in the face of tariff threats. Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Putin as a “friend” after a call with the Russian leader this week, and New Delhi has moved to bolster relations with China. Modi is set to visit China in late August — his first trip to the country in seven years — to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Trump and his administration officials have criticised India for its purchases of Russian oil, seeing the trade as helping Putin finance his war on Ukraine. Trump has imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods and threatened to double it to 50% on Aug 27 — a rate that would make India’s US$85 billion in annual US exports uncompetitive.
India has defended its right to buy from the cheapest source, calling the tariffs “unreasonable”. For India, the advantage of Russian oil is that it can be purchased at a discount, making it a key tool for keeping domestic inflation in check.
Source: Theedgemalaysia
