India intends to solve the problem of trade imbalance with Russia

India and Russia continue to seek a solution to the problem of a significant imbalance in bilateral trade in Russia’s favor. According to the Indian side, it was formed due to the impossibility of using significant amounts of Indian rupees received by Russian exporters for settlements. But the search for a payment mechanism continues, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry Dinesh said at a briefing in Delhi on August 16, answering a question from Vedomosti.

“The disparity of export-import operations [Индии в торговых отношениях с Россией] is a reality, the cause of which is sanctions [против России]. Intergovernmental discussion [по этому вопросу] will [вновь] held to see what to do with it. This happens because [накопившийся у российских компаний из-за рисков при использовании доллара в связи с санкциями] a significant amount of rupees cannot be used. So far we have no information that any solution to this problem has been found. We are now looking for [удобный] mechanism,” Dinesh said.

According to him, it is still very difficult to adequately assess the impact of geopolitical problems and economic sanctions (including anti-Russian ones) on the global economy and trade, since “this is a constantly changing scenario and it is very difficult to understand what [еще] happen.” “Of course, the sanctions have affected trade with Russia,” Dinesh said. He stressed that India, as the G20 chair and a country “helping the global South grow”, wants to develop economic ties with all countries and grow with them without singling out anyone. “These are both developed and developing [экономики]”, – he said.

As reported in mid-July by the Indian Ministry of Commerce, in January-May, for the first time in history, Russia became the country’s third trading partner in terms of trade ($27.1 billion). At the same time, deliveries of Russian goods, most of which are energy carriers, in monetary terms are more than 40 times higher than Indian deliveries: $26.5 billion versus $639 million. in the Indian state of Goa acknowledged as a “problem” that Russian companies have accumulated “billions” of limited convertible Indian rupees that they cannot use. In the same month, Reuters, citing sources, reported that negotiations on trade in rupees between India and Russia had been suspended, as none of the methods used to launch effective settlements in the Indian currency had failed.