New Delhi [India], August 20 (ANI): Evgeniy Griva, the Russian Deputy Trade Representative, said on Tuesday that despite pressure on Russia and its economy, cooperation with India is increasing, particularly in the financial sphere through the rupee-ruble payment system. He emphasized that even in the face of blackmail attempts, financial cooperation between the two countries remains secure.
Griva made the remarks on Wednesday during a joint press conference with Roman Babushkin, Charge d’Affaires of the Russian Embassy in New Delhi.
Calling the sanctions on Russia’s economy illegal, Babushkin said, “Non-United Nations sanctions and secondary sanctions are illegal. They weaponize the economy. Despite the tremendous sanction pressure on Russia, the Russian economy is growing steadily. It means that you cannot exclude from the global economy such a big and important country like Russia with its tremendous energy, industrial and human potential.”
Griva added, “We see that after such pressure, there is an increase in cooperation, especially in the financial sphere, for example, because payments in ruble-rupee became safer when you can expect that there would be some blackmailing. So just the trend is that more pressure, more cooperation.”
He highlighted that India and Russia have experienced stable trade growth, reaching a point where annual increases of around 10 percent can be predicted. “We have really very stable growth in our trade… Now we have reached the level and we can predict that the usual growth in trade will be approximately 10 percent annually. Besides that, we see the tendency that Indian exports to Russia are growing bigger and faster,” he said.
Despite crude oil being Russia’s primary export, Griva noted that the range of commodities traded is expanding. He highlighted that Indian exports to Russia are also increasing in areas such as machine tools, pharmaceuticals, and electronic devices.
His remarks came as External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar arrived in Moscow to co-chair the Russia-India Intergovernmental Commission (IRIGC), a key platform for cooperation across trade, energy, finance, and defense. During his visit, Jaishankar will also meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The Embassy of India in Russia announced his arrival in Moscow on Tuesday evening in a post on X, stating, “Hon’ble EAM @DrSJaishankar arrives in Moscow on an official visit to Russia.”
The development comes amid strain in India’s ties with the United States over New Delhi’s procurement of crude oil from Russia.
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