India is batting for more trades with Russia to be settled in rupees as its commerce with Moscow witnesses a sharp increase.

“Mutual settlement of trade in national currencies is of great importance,” External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said on Monday speaking at the India-Russia Business Forum in Mumbai and attended by Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov.

Trade between the traditional allies have shot up five times in the past three years, according to trade ministry data, as India lapped up Russian crude oil while most others shunned its barrels following the invasion of Ukraine. “Our bilateral trade is today at US$66 billion [RM289.08 billion],” Jaishankar said. “This makes the goal of reaching US$100 billion by 2030 more than realistic.”

Settling trades in the local currency with some of its partners such as Russia will help New Delhi reduce dependence on the dollar and partly insulate its economy from global shocks. However, the push hasn’t achieve desired results yet.

India runs a huge trade deficit with Russia of US$57 billion, according to government data, meaning it buys more from Moscow than it supplies. That leaves Russia with more Indian rupees than it needs for buying goods such as electronics, medicines, seafood and steel from the South Asian nation.

“The balance of trade, however, needs urgent redressal since it is so one-sided,” Jaishankar said, while calling Russia to ease non-tariff barriers and “regulatory impediments” to help boost Indian shipments.

India mainly imports oil and defence equipment from Russia, and has been trying to work a delicate balance with the US from which it seeks technology and capital. India has maintained its friendly relations with Russia despite objection from countries such as Germany, Japan and the US.

  - Bloomberg