India, Russia Need To Join Forces In High-Tech Sectors Of Economy - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Russia and India should develop technological cooperation in knowledge-intensive areas of the economy in order to broaden bilateral trade relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told India's Economic Times newspaper

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) Russia and India should develop technological cooperation in knowledge-intensive areas of the economy in order to broaden bilateral trade relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told India's Economic Times newspaper.

"Today, such tasks as qualitatively improving the bilateral trade pattern and shifting its focus from commodities to high value-added products are taking priority. We need to move forward, build a portfolio of joint projects, forging new technological alliances in advanced, knowledge-intensive industries," the foreign minister was quoted as saying.

He also said that the main obstacle to growing economic cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi were the differences in taxation rules.

"Yet, India's asymmetrical tax treatment of foreign business as compared to the regime enjoyed by Indian entrepreneurs in Russia remains the sticking point. Consultations on the removal of trade barriers are underway to make our domestic markets more attractive for mutual investments," he said, as quoted by the Economic Times.

Russia and India have a long history of technological cooperation going back to the Soviet period. However, rapidly changing technology gives both countries brand new avenues of cooperation.

In early October, Indian Ambassador to Russia Bala Venkatesh Varma told Sputnik that both countries were currently considering taking part in joint solar energy projects.