Russian President Vladimir Putin orders to soften trade imbalance with India

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered to devise measures including buying more agricultural products and medicines from India to soften the trade imbalance with India due to heavy crude import by New Delhi reported news agency PTIPutins announcement comes weeks ahead of his visit to India in early December for an annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra ModiThe Russian president was speaking at the international Valdai discussion forum of security and geopolitical experts from 140 countries including from India at the Black Sea resort of Sochi in South Russia late Thursday eveningThe losses faced by India due to punitive US tariffs would be balanced by crude imports from Russia plus it will gain prestige as a sovereign nation Putin said reported PTIHe was referring to the additional 25 per cent tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per centPutin said that to remove the trade imbalance Russia may buy more agricultural products and medicines from India More agricultural products may be purchased from India Certain steps can be undertaken from our side for medicinal products pharmaceuticals Putin stated reported PTIThe president said he had instructed the Russian government to think of proposals to be made to Indian friends and counterparts on the most promising areas of cooperation and how Russia can smoothen the imbalance in trade and other areas according to staterun news agency TASS reported PTIPutin noted the vast potential for economic cooperation between Russia and India but acknowledged the need to resolve specific issues to fully unlock these opportunitiesFor comparison he said the trade turnover between Russia and India is about USD 63 billion and USD 50 billion with Belarus At the same time the population is 15 billion in India and 10 million in Belarus It obviously does not correspond to our potential opportunities Putin stressed reported PTIWe need to solve the whole range of tasks to unlock our opportunities and potential advantages Putin said identifying financing logistics and payment bottlenecks as key concernsPutin also underlined that Russia had never had any problems or interstate tensions with India Never and noted that both the countries always took actions keeping in view the respective sensitivities reported PTIHe highlighted the special nature of RussiaIndia relations since the days of the Soviet Union when India was fighting for its independence In India they remember this they know it and they value it We appreciate that India has not forgotten it he said reported PTIHe referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi as his friend noting that he feels comfortable in their trustworthy interactionsPutin lauded Indias nationalist government led by PM Modi calling him a balanced wise and nationally oriented leader reported PTIHe remarked Everyone in India knows this well particularly regarding Indias decision to ignore US pressure to halt oil imports from RussiaPutin also recalled that the declaration of a special strategic privileged partnership between Russia and India will soon celebrate its 15th anniversary and asserted Thats what it really isHe noted that in their political relations Russia and India almost always coordinate their actionsWe always hear and take into account the positions of our countries on various key issues Our foreign ministries work very closely together Putin said reported PTIAdditionally he welcomed the idea of a joint fund to develop AI and other cuttingedge technology proposed by Dr Arvind Gupta Director General of New Delhibased Vivekananda International Foundation VIF who was attending the Sochi forumWith inputs from PTI