Putin's visit expected to strengthen Indo-Russia economic co-operation: Sources

New Delhi [India], December 4 (ANI): The two-day State visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India will go a long way in strengthening economic co-operation, sources said on Thursday.
President Putin is travelling with a large group of business persons, as per government sources. India expects to improve the trade deficit with Russia. Multiple avenues being worked out to increase Indian exports to Russia. Exports in the field of pharmaceuticals, automobiles, agricultural products including marine products, sources said.
Indian businesses and products will get a bigger market and this will also boost job creation and well-being of our farmers, sources said. Multiple agreements and MoUs are expected, in the field of Shipping, healthcare, fertilisers, connectivity.
More co-operation will also be seen in the people to people relations, mobility partnerships, culture and scientific collaboration, as per the sources.
Earlier, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov expressed confidence that Russia and India can reach their shared goal of achieving USD100 billion in trade turnover by 2030, citing rapid growth in recent years and expanding cooperation across multiple sectors.
In an interview with Russian Media outlet Izvestia, Siluanov pointed to the opening of VTB Bank's new flagship office as a concrete step toward strengthening the financial infrastructure needed to support rising trade volumes. "Today's event, the opening of the VTB bank flagship office, is just one step towards achieving this goal. The more opportunities there are for settlements, the simpler trade and economic relations will be carried out. Therefore, today's event is just another step, I repeat, towards achieving this goal," he said.
He also underscored Russia's ongoing efforts to carry out the President's directive to increase imports from India.
"We are currently engaged in implementing the task set by the President regarding increasing imports from India. Therefore, in order to solve these issues, such significant events as today are very important. The simpler the settlements are, I repeat, the greater the turnover, trade turnover, investments, and tourist trips between our countries will be," he said,
The Russian President will be arriving on Thursday for a two-day State visit and will participate in the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.
The visit will provide an opportunity for the leadership of India and Russia to review progress in bilateral relations, outline the vision for strengthening the 'Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership', and exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.
The upcoming visit will mark Putin's first to India since 2021. The two leaders last met in person on September 1 this year in Tianjin, China, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. (ANI)