India shares products’ list with Moscow
INDIA gave a list of Indian products to Moscow for access to Russian markets, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Monday (5), as his country seeks to narrow a growing trade deficit with Russia at a time when Moscow faces acute shortages of some crucial materials following Western sanctions.
Last week, Moscow had sent India a list of more than 500 products for potential delivery, including parts for cars, aircraft and trains, as sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine squeeze its ability to keep vital industries running.
Russia has been India’s largest supplier of military equipment for decades and it is the fourth-biggest market for Indian pharmaceuticals. But with India’s purchases of Russian oil soaring and coal and fertiliser shipments also strong, the South Asian nation is looking for ways to rebalance trade.
‘We have given Russians a set of products which we believe we are very competitive in and which we feel should be getting access to the Russian market,’ Jaishankar told reporters in a briefing with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who is on a visit to India.
The minister added that discussions on expanding trade have been going on for some time, and even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.
‘We will see where there is a demand and supply and there is a fit. I think a large part of it would be determined by the market,’ Jaishankar added.
Residents of New Delhi and its suburbs endure poor air every winter as colder, heavier air traps construction dust, vehicle emissions and smoke from the burning of crop stubble in the nearby states of Punjab and Haryana.
However, paddy crop residue burning has reduced by 31 percent in the period from Sept. 15 till Nov. 30 this year, the government said in a statement on Monday.
The total number of farm fires in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi’s suburbs fell to 53,792, owing to improved machinery and bio-decomposers to destroy crop residue, according to government data.
‘Significant reduction in paddy crop residue burning events in the current year is reflective of vigorous and consistent efforts made by Central Government and State Governments and other stakeholders,’ the government said.
Environmentalists have often said that tackling farm fires alone will not clean Delhi’s filthy air, which remained in the ‘very poor’ category on Monday.