India, Russia seek balanced trade, deeper energy ties

Two sides describe ties as among steadiest of the world's major relationships

- Rezaul H. Laskar

India and Russia on Thursday explored ways to expand trade in a balanced manner, ensure long-term supplies of key commodities such as fertilizers and sustain energy cooperation, with external affairs minister S. Jaishankar saying bilateral ties were among the steadiest of the world's major relationships due to geopolitical convergence.

Jaishankar, who held talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow a day after co-chairing a meeting of a bilateral trade and economic body, also raised New Delhi's concerns, including a massive trade deficit, non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments, and the issue of Indians serving in the Russian Army.

He also met Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will come to India later this year for a summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jaishankar travelled to Russia after meeting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in New Delhi to take forward the normalization of India-China relations against the backdrop of a growing estrangement between New Delhi and Washington over trade-related matters and the US administration's punitive tariffs on Indian goods.