A high level Indian delegation held intense consultations and discussion with political leaders and business houses of Russia in the last 3 days during INNOPROM 2016. Indian delegation led by Her Excellency Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State (Independent Charge), Commerce and Industry and consisting of the Chief Ministers of the 3 most dynamic states of India – Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, held detailed discussions to identify new areas of cooperation between India and Russia. The thrust of the discussion was to explore possibilities of investment in India, particularly in these Indian States and in Russia including in the Urals Region as a whole.
Such a high level delegation has come to Russia for the first time in several years and indicates the highest level of commitment of India to significantly strengthen its Special and Privileged Partnership with Russia.
The delegation met H.E. Mr. Dennis Manturov, Minister for Industry and Trade, Russian Federation, H.E. Mr. Evgeny Kuivashev, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region, H.E. Mr. Boris Dubrovskiy, Governor of Chelyabinsk Province and concluded their stay with an extremely productive call on H.E. Mr. Dmitri Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. Before that, the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Commerce and Industries and the Chief Ministers toured the Indian pavilion, where Prime Minister Medvedev visited the Stalls of the three States.
Minister of State (Independent Charge), Commerce and Industries conveyed that the BRICS Industries Ministers’ meeting would be held before the forthcoming BRICS Summit in Goa in October 2016. They agreed that they need to build upon the extent of excellent cooperation in Defence, Nuclear, Oil & Gas and other sectors. They also discussed the ways and means to achieve the target of USD 30 billion by 2025, set by the leadership of India and Russia, strategic initiatives such as India’s association with the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU) and the International North South Corridor. She extended invitation to the intellectuals, students, journalists to visit India and also invited Mr. Manturov to lead a trade delegation to India including to these 3 states.
His Excellency Shri N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh invited Russia to participate in the construction of the new Capital of Andhra Pradesh - Amaravati. He invited Russian investment in Defence and Aerospace sectors as well as in the Civil Nuclear sphere. He spoke of the huge opportunity in the Information and Pharmaceutical sectors as well as the in internet of things and said that Russia should focus on India as the fastest growing major economy of the world. He said that the target of his State was to grow at 15 % per annum for next 15 years.
His Excellency Shri Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister of Maharashtra underlined Maharashtra’s role as the economic powerhouse of India and he agreed to identify companies in Maharashtra and Russia who can partner with each other. He spoke of the immense popularity of Bollywood in Russia, and also signed an Agreement for Sister-State relationship with Sverdlovsk region.
Her Excellency Smt. Vasundhara Raje, Chief Minister of Rajasthan emphasized the potential of minerals and mining in Rajasthan and spoke of the need for cooperation in the areas of urban infrastructure and water management. She laid particular emphasis on Rajasthan as the tourist destination of India and the vast potential in this area.
All the three Chief Ministers visited St Petersburg and signed different Agreements with St Petersburg as well as the Hermitage Museum.
India’s participation at INNOPROM 2016 marks a new milestone in India-Russia relations, in accordance with the directions given by His Excellency Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India and His Excellency Mr. Vladmir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, and opens the roads for future cooperation between the new India and the new Russia. Both sides are committed to undertake follow-up measures, which will include business delegations and high level visits in the next few months.
Yekaterinburg
July 12, 2016
