India – Russia Joint Statement during visit of Prime Minister to Vladivostok

05/09/2019 inquilabtimes

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS OF COOPERATION THROUGH TRUST AND PARTNERSHIP”

Prime Minister of the Republic of India H.E. Narendra Modi paid an official visit to the Russian Federation on September4-5, 2019 on the invitation of President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr Vladimir Putin. The 20th India – Russia Annual Summit was held in Vladivostok. H.E. Mr Narendra Modi also participated in the 5th Eastern Economic Forum as the Chief Guest.
At the jubilee 20th Annual Summit, both leaders noted progressive development of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership between India and Russia. These relations are unique, confiding and mutually beneficial by nature, encompassing all possible areas of cooperation. They are based on similar civilizational values, time-tested friendship, mutual understanding, trust, common interests and proximity of approaches to the fundamental issues of development and economic progress. Regular meetings of the leaders of the States, including those on the sidelines of various international fora and growing momentum of bilateral contacts at all levels are a vivid proof of this Partnership.
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India-Russia ties have successfully coped with the turbulent realities of the contemporary world. They have never been and will not be susceptible to outside influence. Development of the entire gamut of India-Russia relations is a foreign policy priority for both countries. The leaders agreed to facilitate, in all possible ways, exploring the impressive potential of our strategic partnership to the full, demonstrating its special and privileged nature which has emerged as an anchor of stability in a complex international situation.

Both Sides welcomed intensive cooperation between their parliaments and noted the importance of interparliamentary interaction as a valuable component of their bilateral relations. They highlighted the visit of the Chairman of the State Duma to India in December 2018 and look forward to the visit of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha to Russia later in 2019.
Both Sides prioritize strong, multifaceted trade and economic cooperation as the foundation for further expanding the range of India-Russia relations.
The Leaders highly appreciated the work of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation which ensures progressive development of bilateral cooperation in various areas.

The Sides expressed satisfaction with the stable mutual growth of trade turnover. To bring it to USD 30 billion by 2025, they agreed to more actively engage the impressive resource and human resources potential of India and Russia, enhance industrial cooperation, create new technological and investment partnership, especially in advanced high-tech areas and find new avenues and forms of cooperation.
Both Sides expressed their interest in expanding the participation of Russian business in “Make in India” program and that of Indian companies in investment projects in Russia. In this context, they agreed to speed up preparations for signing of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Agreement on Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments.
The Sides agreed to intensify joint work towards eliminating barriers in mutual trade, including protective measures, customs and administrative barriers, to further consider reducing restrictive measures through bilateral dialogue. This would be facilitated, inter alia, by the proposed Trading Agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Republic of India.
They agreed to improve the structure of trade in goods and services, environment for entrepreneurial activities and investment, harmonize and refine relevant import and export procedures, streamline and standardize technical, sanitary and phytosanitary requirements.
The work on promoting mutual settlements of payments in national currencies will be continued.
The office of the Russian export support group established in Mumbai on the platform of the Russian Trade mission to India jointly with the Russian Export Center to promote bilateral trade and economic relations was welcome. The Sides also noted the continued facilitation of Russian investments in India provided by the Russia Plus Desk of Invest India.
The Sides noted the contribution of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and the –India-Russia Business Dialogue that took place on its sidelines this year to enhanced trade, economic and investment cooperation.
The two Leaders welcomed the holding of the 2nd edition of the India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue on 10 July 2019 in New Delhi. The Strategic Economic Dialogue has emerged as a promising mechanism aimed at promoting cohesive and mutually beneficial economic cooperation across core sectors by way of structured and continuous interaction between our two countries. A comprehensive Action Strategy for advancing bilateral Trade-Economic and Investment Cooperation has been developed and adopted in 2018-2019 based on the work of the Dialogue.

The Leaders expressed satisfaction with the cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow in the sphere of the development of the Russian Far East. Several Indian companies have been successfully set up in the Far East region, such as M/s KGK in Vladivostok in the field of diamond cutting and M/s Tata Power in Krutogorovo in Kamchatka in coal mining. The Russian side welcomed the intent of the Indian side to expand its economic and investment presence in the Far Eastern region and Siberia.
India is making efforts at enhancing cooperation with the Russian Far East. As a first step, for the first time ever a delegation of four Chief Ministers of Indian states led by the Commerce and Industry Minister of India visited Vladivostok on 12-13 August 2019 to explore avenues of greater bilateral engagement in targeted sectors. Both Sides also look forward to exploring cooperation on temporary placement of skilled manpower from India to Far East Russia.
India looks forward to cooperate with Russia in the Arctic. India has been following the developments in the Arctic region with interest and is also ready to play a significant role in the Arctic Council.
Russia on its part, expressed its readiness to participate in major infrastructural and other projects in India. Both Sides welcomed the recent opening of the Far East Investment and Export Agency’s office in Mumbai and looked forward to its contribution to the development of bilateral trade and economic relations with regard to the Russian Far East.
The energy industry has traditionally been a key area of interaction between the two countries – this is an area where Indian and Russian economies complement each other beneficially. Civil nuclear cooperation between India and Russia is an important component of strategic partnership. The Sides noted the pace of progress achieved in the construction of the remaining four of the six nuclear power plants at Kudankulam. Both Sides engaged in discussion on the second site and welcomed continuation of technicaldiscussions on the VVER 1200 of the Russian design and joint manufacturing of equipment and fuel.
The Sides highlighted successful cooperation in the construction of the Rooppur NPP in Bangladesh and expressed their readiness to expand similar cooperation in third countries.
The leaders note immense potential of cooperation in the field of non-nuclear fuel and energy. India and Russia welcome the success of interaction between JSC Rosneft Oil Company and Consortium of Oil and Gas Public Sector Undertakings in implementing the Vankorneft and Taas-YuryakhNeftegazodobycha projects, the work of the Nayara Energy Limited oil refinery, cooperation in extracting hydrocarbon resources over the last two decades as well as the timely delivery of liquefied natural gas under the agreement between Gazprom and GAIL India.The Sides agreed to cooperate in supply of coking coal from Russian Far East to India.
The leaders are determined to forge cooperation in geological exploration and joint development of oil and gas fields in Russia and India, including offshore fields. They will continue their work to develop the ways of delivering energy resources from Russia to India, including a long-term agreement for sourcing Russian crude oil, the possible use of the Northern Sea Route and a pipeline system. They noted the prospects of Nayara Energy Limited increasing the capacity in Vadinar oil refinery. India and Russia agreed to consider the prospects for expanding cooperation in hydro and thermal power, energy efficiency as well as for designing and constructing facilities that generate energy from non-conventional sources.
With the signing of the Roadmap for cooperation in Hydrocarbons for 2019-24 during the Summit, both Sides expect bilateral cooperation in this sector to touch new heights in the next five years.
To promote further development of trade and economic ties between India and Russia, the Sides intend to work on improving the transport infrastructure.They attach great importance to the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The major thrust in the INSTC is to secure freight volumes, upgrade and improve the transport and logistics services provided, simplify document workflow and switch to electronic document workflow, introduce digital technologies and satellite navigation into the transportation process.
Both Sides foresee good potential in establishing cooperation in the sphere of railways. Theyexpressed satisfaction with the progress of the feasibility study for raising the speed of the Nagpur – Secunderabad Section and noted the interest of Russian Government to participate in the implementation of that development project.The Sides will continue to actively engage in this regard.
The Sides agreed to review possibility of expanding direct passenger and cargo flights including flights between various regions of both the countries.
They intend to further cooperate in transport education, professional training and scientific support for the infrastructure transport projects.
The Sides emphasized the importance of joint research in science and technology. They are committed to intensify development of high-tech products in such spheres, as telecommunications, robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies, pharmacy and others.To this end, the leaders appreciated signing of the MoU between Department of Science & Technology of the Republic of India and Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation for cooperation in the field of Innovation.
The Russian Side hailed results of the 2018 All India Tiger Estimation, which established that India was home to 75% of the global tiger population with 2967 tigers. Indian Side welcomed the Russian Side’s initiative to hold the Second International Tiger Conservation Forum in 2022 (also called the Second Tiger Summit, the first Summit was held in Saint-Petersburg in 2010). Acknowledging their leadership role in tiger conservation efforts, both Sides agreed to hold aHighLevel Tiger Forumin India in 2020, involving tiger range countries, conservation partners and other stakeholders.
Promising areas of cooperation include aviation and space. The Sides agreed to explore the prospects of establishing joint ventures in India for the development and production of civil aircraft.
The Sides welcomed the increased cooperation between the State Space Corporation “Roscosmos” and the Indian Space Research Organization, including the human spaceflight programs and satellite navigation. The Sides agreed that it was necessary to exploit to a greater extent potential of India and Russia in launch vehicles development, construction and utilization of spacecraft for different applications, as well as research and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, including planetary exploration.
The Sides welcomed the active work carried out within the framework of the signed MoU on support of the Russian Side for India’s first manned mission “Gaganyaan”.
Both Sides intend to strengthen cooperation within the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UN COPUS), including guaranteeing long-term sustainability of outer space activities and developing “Space 2030” Agenda and implementation plan.
They attach high importance to cooperation in the diamond industry. The successful activity of the PJSC ALROSA office in India was noted by the Sides. They declared their interest in enhancing rough diamonds trading system and exploring ways to further improve the regulatory environment in this field with the aim of protecting the equity of natural diamonds.
The Sides acknowledged the opportunities to increase bilateral trade in the sphere of agriculture. They expressed their intent to take specific steps to enhance legal framework in this sector and harmonize phytosanitary standards, develop logistics, find new ways to promote agricultural commodities in our countries’ markets and study the capacities and needs of each other more carefully. Green Corridor mechanism envisages pre-arrival exchange of information between two Customs administrations. This would help faster clearance to goods, through enhanced risk management. It would thus significantly improve trade facilitation.