India-Russia To Strengthen Bilateral Trade Beyond Defence And Energy Sector

Russia has emerged as a significant trading partner of India in recent years in non-oil and non-defence sectors, with agriculture becoming a major component of the relationship.

On India-Russia partnership beyond defence and oil trade, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan highlighted the possibility of joining hands in agricultural-driven trade ties.

On the sidelines of his interaction with Russian Deputy PM Patrushev, he said, "Our ties go beyond trade. Russia’s focus on agri innovation & productivity offers scope for joint work in sustainable farming, tech-driven solutions & agri-trade."

"We discussed wide-ranging areas including agricultural and food security cooperation, balancing bilateral trade, and strengthening technical partnerships," he said. 

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In a statement issued post this meet, Chouhan said that India had raised concerns over certain phytosanitary and non-tariff barriers imposed by Russia on Indian agriculture exports.

Further, he also pushed the pedal on enhanced cooperation in agriculture research and development between the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Russian research institutions.

Additionally, he said cooperation was sought on expanding people-to-people ties through exchange programmes for agriculture students in both countries.

India has increased its imports of fertilisers, yellow peas, and sunflower and soybean oils from Russia in the past few years.

In turn, after facing tariff barriers in the United States, sources said India is eyeing Russian seafood markets as part of a larger focus on European Union destinations.

In the period beginning from 2022-23 to 2023-24, fertiliser imports from Russia rose by almost 26 per cent, with its share in India’s total fertiliser imports increasing from about 20 per cent to 27 per cent in the same period. Muriate of potash, urea, and other complex fertilisers dominate these imports.

Meanwhile, India has imported significant quantities of yellow peas from Russia in recent years.

As per trade data available for the period between FY24 till FY25, yellow peas imports from Russia rose by approximately 89 per cent, even while this import category witnessed a decline  in imports by nearly 6 per cent in the same period.