In Moscow, Jaishankar raises challenge posed by tariff to India-Russia trade, calls for early conclusion of India-Eurasian Economic Union FTA

In the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of penalty tariff on India, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday (August 20, 2025) in Moscow raised the challenge posed by “tariff and non-tariff trade barriers” before Russia-India trade and called for “early conclusion” of a Free Trade Agreement among India and the countries of the Eurasian region. Mr. Jaishankar made the remarks during the 26^th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Government Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) where the Russian side was being led by First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Denis Manturov.

Delivering his opening remarks Mr. Jaishankar said, “tariff and non-tariff trade barriers, removing bottlenecks in logistics, promoting connectivity through the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Northern Sea Route and the Chennai-Vladivostok Corridor, effecting payment mechanisms smoothly” are the main issues before the IRIGC-TEC.

He further said that Wednesday’s meeting in Moscow also finalized the terms of reference of the India-Eurasian Economic Union Free Trade Agreement of which Russia has been a leading proponent as it aims at removing obstacles for overland trade among Russia, China, India and the Central Asian countries.

“..we are all acutely aware that we are meeting in the backdrop of a complex geopolitical situation. Our leaders remain closely and regularly engaged,” said Mr Jaishankar indirectly referring to the trade-related anxieties in India-U.S. relation.

He also raised the issue of trade imbalance in India-Russia trade that has expanded in the past few years as India’s trade with Russia grew from $13 billion in 2021 to $68 billion in 2024-’25.

India-Russia trade has risen sharply after Russia was hit with Western sanctions following the crisis in Ukraine. Bulk of this trade is in hydrocarbon that Russia supplies to India. As a result the earlier trade imbalance of $ 6.6 billion has risen to $58.9 billion. “So, we need to address that urgently,” said Mr Jaishankar in his remarks.