For India, Russia is valued and time-tested partner: EAM Jaishankar

Moscow [Russia], December 27 : External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday called Russia India's "valued and time-tested" partner. He said India and Russia have benefited enormously from the relationship that the two nations share and added that the developments in various sectors, including trade, investment and military technical cooperation showcase a good sense of importance that New Delhi attaches to its ties with Moscow.
On being asked about his earlier remarks about India-Russia ties, he said, "I think I must have been reacting to how I was asked that particular question and I know that is not your intent. For us, Russia is a very valued partner. It's very time-tested partner. It's a relationship from which both India and Russia have benefited enormously and my presence here today and the fact you know all the developments that I have pointed out including our growing trade, investments, our military technical cooperation, our connectivity projects. I think all of this will give you a good sense of the importance and the value that we attach to the relationship."
Earlier this month, Jaishankar at the Eighth Global Technology Summit hailed India-Russia relations while he downplayed the overdependence in the India-Russia relationship.
"We have a relationship with Russia and it is not a relationship that happened in one instant, one day, one month or one year. It is an accumulated relationship of close to 60 years," Jaishankar had said.
"Often I see a problem defined in a way as though somewhere there's some handicap that India has by having this relationship. This relationship has saved us at times. Whether we are over dependent or not, actually at the end of the day it depends on us," he added.
In response to another question, Jaishankar said the International North-South corridor is in interest of India and the global economy. Highlighting the growth of India, he said India is moving to be a four trillion dollar economy and is growing at 7.7 per cent in 2023, with a possibility of growth in the future.
"The international North-South transport corridor is in our interest and not just in ours, but in the interest of the global economy that this corridor progresses and we certainly will give it the highest priority. You are right when you speak about a rebalancing world I mean, I give you the example of India itself, I mean today we are moving to be a four trillion dollar economy and we are growing at 7.7 per cent this year, possibility of improved growth in the future," Jaishankar said.
He further said, "We do think the world is not what it was, politics will change, the global order will have to change, the international economy will have to change and we appreciate very much that Russia is today a strong ... of a multipolar order. Also that it is supportive of you know the positions that we take in our mutual interests in international politics."
He said India greatly values the tradition of annual meetings between leaders of India and Russia. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin did not hold an annual meeting due to India's G20 Presidency and preoccupations at the end of the year. He expressed confidence that the annual meeting will be held next year. Jaishankar noted that India and Russia have positive feelings for each other.
"The tradition of annual meetings between our leaders is something that we value very greatly and as someone who has seen it over the last decade, I can attest to its enormous value. I think, my colleague has seen it for longer and could confirm what I am saying. I don't think it is an issue of resumption of the summits. This year, because of our G20 presidency and at the end of the year, we had some preoccupations," Jaishankar said.
"It so happened that it could not I am very confident that we will see an annual summit next year and again, you know ours is really ours is really a relationship which at every level, starting with you know the relationship between the leaders to right down to the popular level, the societal sentiment, I think we have really very positive feelings for each other and I think that is a really big source of strength for the relationship," he added.
While addressing the joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Jaishankar appreciated the India-Russia trade, which is at an all-time high. He said that the negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union will resume in January next year.
The External Affairs Minister said that the relationship between New Delhi and Moscow remains very steady and strong and is based on strategic convergence on geopolitical interests.
"We have had a very good session of talks and today, what really came out was India-Russia relationship remains very steady, very strong. They are based on strategic convergence on geopolitical interests and because they are mutually beneficial," Jaishankar said.
He added, "We spent a lot of time discussing political cooperation, with regards to a lot of international issues including international organisations like BRICS of which Russia will be the President, SCO".
Speaking on bilateral cooperation, Jaishankar praised the fact that the India-Russia trade is at an all-time high and crossed 50 billion USD last year. "What is important is that this trade is more balanced, sustainable, and provides for more market access," he added.
Jaishankar further said that New Delhi is expecting a delegation from the Far East to participate in an important conference in India next month.
"We discussed mutual investments, and the need to progress on a bilateral investment treaty. We spoke about Railways yesterday. We have agreed that the agreements between India and the Eurasian Economic Union for a Free Trade Agreement would be resumed in the second half of January this year," Jaishankar said.