Huge potential for enhancing business ties with Russia: President

Underlining the huge potential for enhancing commercial and investment exchanges between India and Russia, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that new opportunities arising between the two economies should be fully tapped.

Speaking at a reception hosted on Saturday by India's ambassador to Russia P.S. Raghavan for the Indian community here, Mukherjee said the last 15 years have seen a qualitative change in India's relations with Russia.

"With the signing of a declaration on India-Russia strategic partnership in October 2000, India established perhaps its closest institutionalized ties with any foreign country. This association has since continued to grow and diversify into newer areas," an official statement on Sunday cited Mukherjee as having said.

Mukherjee said India today terms its relationship with Russia as "a special and privileged strategic partnership" in recognition of the multi-faceted bilateral engagement. He said the Indian community in Russia has contributed significantly to development of close ties between India and Russia.

The president noted that interaction between the two countries at the people-to-people level have always been warm and friendly.

"This has been exemplified by Russian interest in Indian cinema, culture and heritage and the popularity in India of Russian literature, arts, circus and sciences."

He said total trade between India and Russia was $6 billion annually, which is less than one per cent of India's total trade of $765 billion.

FDI inflows into India in the past 15 years have been to the tune of $246 billion, out of which only $1 billion has come from Russia.

"Given the size of the economies of both the countries, there is huge potential to enhance commercial and investment exchanges. The synergies and new opportunities arising between the two economies should be fully utilized," he said.

Mukherjee said that Indian community in Russia, "as repositories of unique information and insights about India and Russia", can play an important role in propelling economic ties between the two countries to a higher trajectory.