New Delhi [India], April 17: National Security Adviser (NSA), Ajit Doval on Monday met Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, Denis Valentinovich Manturov and discussed a wide range of bilateral issues to implement the India-Russia strategic partnership.
Manturov is on a two-day visit to India to co-chair the Intergovernmental Russian-Indian Commission, which is aimed at enhancing trade ties between the two countries.
India and Russia are discussing a free trade agreement, a move that would further deepen bilateral commercial ties that have flourished since war broke out in Ukraine.
On the first day of his visit, Manturov co-chaired the 24th India-Russia Inter-governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).
The IRIGC-TEC is the main institutional mechanism supervising economic cooperation. It integrates six working groups on economic and trade cooperation, modernisation and industrial cooperation, energy, tourism and culture, science and technology, and IT.
A plenary meeting of the intergovernmental commission (IGC) will be held on Tuesday, following which the co-chairs will sign the final protocol of the 24th IGC meeting. Manturov will be co-chairing the meeting of the bilateral Inter-Governmental Commission with External Affairs Minister S Jaishanakr on April 18, 2023.
Both sides plan to discuss the issues of bilateral trade, and economic and humanitarian cooperation. Manturov will also hold a number of bilateral meetings, the Russian Embassy in India said in a tweet.
A number of institutionalized mechanisms have been set up for the development of economic cooperation between the two countries. The primary institution at the government level is IRIGC-TEC.
Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Manturov co-chaired the virtual meeting of IRIGC-TEC.
