By Nidhi Verma and Krishn Kaushik
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India wants to strengthen its energy ties with Russia and could strike deals with Rosneft and other leading Russian oil companies as part of a broader push to boost bilateral trade, Foreign Minister Vinay Mohan Kwatra said on Tuesday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have set a target of increasing bilateral trade from about $65 billion in 2030, Kwatra told a news conference after the two leaders met in Moscow.
“When the two leaders talked about cooperation in the (energy) sector, they focused on how exactly they could strengthen that partnership,” Kwatra said.
“(And) in the same vein, how exactly India, particularly through the government-to-government route, could also build partnerships with Rosneft and other energy entities,” he added.
India has emerged as the biggest buyer of Russian offshore oil sold at a discount as Western entities shun purchases due to a series of sanctions imposed on Russia over its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is the leading oil supplier to India and the third largest oil importer and consumer in the world.
After Putin and Modi’s meeting, the two countries outlined nine key areas of cooperation for the $100 billion trade target in a joint statement. India is keen to boost its exports to Russia to straighten out its trade balance, to Moscow’s advantage.
The two countries want the removal of non-tariff trade barriers and will continue to work towards a free trade agreement between the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union and India, the joint statement said.
The energy cooperation covered areas such as nuclear energy, oil refining and petrochemicals, partnership in energy infrastructure, technologies and equipment.
Russian entities, including Roneft, have a majority stake in private refiner Nayara Energy, while Indian companies have stakes in Russian oil exploration and production projects in the Far East.
India’s ONGC Videsh is seeking formal approval from Russian authorities to retain its 20% stake in the Sakhalin 1 oil project in Russia.
Besides energy, Kwatra said India is a major buyer of Russian fertilizers and wants to “consolidate and build” its relations with Moscow for security of crop nutrients.
Modi and Putin also agreed to develop a bilateral settlement system using national currencies, the statement said
