RUSSIAN DEPUTY PM MAY VISIT INDIA ON MAR 31

NEWDELHI: Russian deputy prime minister Yury Trutnev is expected to visit New Delhi at the end of this month to take forward discussions on India’s participation in developing the resourcerich Far East and Arctic regions, people familiar with developments said.

Trutnev, the Russian president’s special envoy for the Far Eastern federal district, is expected to be in India on March 31 after visits by some other senior Russian officials that will focus on boosting trade and investment between the two sides, said the people who declined to be identified.

“The discussions during Trutnev’s visit will centre around the development of Russia’s Far East region,” said a person.

Trutnev’s visit is expected to be followed next month by a meeting of the India-Russia intergovernmental commission for trade, economic, scientific and cultural cooperation that is chaired by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and Russian deputy prime minister Yury Borisov, the people cited above said.

This is the apex body for bilateral economic cooperation, and it has several working groups and sub-groups focused on issues such as trade, priority investments, civil aviation and mining.

Russia has opted to focus on new areas that can drive trade and investment cooperation with India as military-technical ties continue to be robust. The Russian side believes India’s participation in developing the Far East and the Northern Sea Route is key to these plans. Bilateral trade has stagnated at around $10 billion for the past few years.

YURY TRUTNEV WILL FOCUS ON BOOSTING TRADE AND INVESTMENT BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES, SAID OFICIALS REQUESTING ANONYMITY