Putin meets Modi; ties set for upgrade

ON THURSDAY, RUSSIA'S largest bank Sberbank and JSC First Asset Management launched anew mutual fund — First-India — offering investments linked to the performance of the Nifty50 index, in what could give Russian retail investors direct exposure to India's buoyant stock market.

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The bank, which has just two branches in India at present, is also gearing up to expand its presence in India by opening eight more branches soon, and establish a wholly owned subsidiary (WOS) in two to three years.

Putin's India visit, the first since the war began in Ukraine, will also see a pledge by Russia to increase harmonisation of standards and reduction of regulatory barriers to enable higher India exports.

The two countries are eyeing bilateral trade worth $100 billion by 2030, up from about $69 billion in 2024-25.

“Tt (bilateral trade) is very skewed and needs to be more balanced. We need to bring more diversity in our trade bas-