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Russia talks business with India as Modi visits Moscow
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia and India agreed to increase cooperation in sectors ranging from nuclear energy to shipbuilding and discussed how to resolve payment issues as their leaders met in Moscow on Tuesday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on a two-day visit to Moscow and met Russian President Vladimir Putin at an event that also saw Russian state-owned companies announce deals and unveil plans for projects involving India.
Russian state nuclear company Rosatom said it was discussing building six more nuclear power units in India; the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) signed deals in the pharmaceutical, shipbuilding and education sectors; and Russia’s second-largest bank spoke of efforts to facilitate payment flows as trade between the two nations increases.
Under a barrage of Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, Russia has turned away from European countries and toward what it calls “friendly” nations such as India and China to diversify and redirect trade flows.
Putin, joining Russian business in the charm offensive, awarded Modi the Order of St. Andrew, Russia’s highest honor.
Construction of the first two units of India’s Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project, which uses Soviet-designed VVER-1000 reactors, began nearly two decades ago in the southern state of Tamil Nadu as part of a project signed by both countries.
Rosatom said new areas of cooperation were being discussed: the construction of six more Russian-designed high-power units at a new site and some Russian-designed small nuclear power plants.
Rosatom and Indian partners were also discussing developing the transit potential of the Northern Sea Route (NSR), which runs from Murmansk near Russia’s border with Norway eastward to the Bering Strait near Alaska, particularly with regard to the supply of Russian oil, coal and liquefied natural gas, Rosatom said.
Russia expects the NSR to carry 150 million metric tons in 2030, up from 80 million tons this year.
SHIPBUILDING, PHARMACEUTICALS, PAYMENTS
India’s RDIF and Enso Group have agreed to a partnership for joint investments worth up to 20 billion rubles ($227 million) in shipbuilding infrastructure development, Russian agencies reported.
Many Russian companies see huge potential in India, RDIF chief Kirill Dmitriev told reporters on the sidelines of the Putin-Modi meeting. Other deals in education and pharmaceuticals have been agreed, he said.
A major obstacle to trade has been payment flows. VTB Bank CEO Andrei Kostin said there had been constructive dialogue on the issue but acknowledged persistent problems.
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“There are, of course, problems related to sanctions, there are problems related to the incomplete convertibility of the rupee, there are problems related to… a wide range of trade and economic relations, there is imbalanced trade,” Kostin told reporters.
($1 = 88.2455 rubles)
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin, Dmitry Antonov, Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow and Alexander Marrow in London; Additional reporting by Anastasia Teterevleva; Editing by Mark Potter)