Russia today said it has developed a system to trade in national currencies with countries like India and would intensify efforts to move away from the dollar-based payment system as visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar in New Delhi.
Soon after holding the talks with Jaishankar in the first high-level in-person political engagement, Lavrov told a select group of reporters that Russia is exploring ways to bypass impediments to bilateral trade with its allies and partners, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
He said a rupee-rouble payment system for trade with India was put into place in the past and it could be strengthened further.
“More and more transactions will be done using national currencies and bypassing dollar-based system,” he said.
Asked about India’s plan to buy discounted Russian oil, Lavrov said Moscow is ready to provide anything that New Delhi wants to buy.
“We are committed to continuing with India’s cooperation in the defence sector,” he said. India has sourced 70 percent of its defence hardware from Russia since the Soviet era.
The Russian Foreign Minister commended India for its stand on the Ukraine issue saying New Delhi follows an independent foreign policy.
“Russia appreciates that India is looking at the situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way,” he said adding, “we are interested in having a balanced world order which makes it sustainable.”
“These days our Western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine. We appreciated that India is taking this situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way,” added Lavrov.
A statement issued by the Indian External Affairs Ministry said Jaishankar and Lavrov considered the implications of “recent developments” on trade and economic relations and the Indian minister underlined that as a developing economy, global volatility in different domains is of particular concern to India.
“It is important for both countries that their economic, technological and people to people contacts remain stable and predictable,” Jaishankar said.
The statement said Lavrov briefed the Indian side from Russia’s perspective on the Ukraine issue, including the ongoing talks.
Reflecting India’s balanced stand, Jaishankar emphasized the importance of cessation of violence and ending hostilities and that differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and by respect for international law, UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states.
