Kazan [Russia], October 15 (ANI): Consul General of India in Kazan, Jeysundhar Deviprasadh, said the second edition of the India-Russia Business Forum in Kazan aims to strengthen economic relations between the two countries by facilitating interactions between Indian businesses and their Russian counterparts.
Speaking to ANI on Wednesday, Deviprasadh said the forum, titled Tatarstan Initiative Mutual Efficiency (TIME), was being hosted in Kazan, the capital city of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, amid growing bilateral trade between India and Russia, which stands at around USD 60 billion.
“Today we begin the second edition of the Time Forum, which is an India-Russia business forum that we are hosting in the city of Kazan. Kazan is part of Tatarstan, which is one of the republics in the Russian Federation. Kazan is the third largest city in terms of economy. Between Russia and India, as we know, we have a bilateral trade of around USD 60 billion, which continues to grow,” he said.
Explaining the significance of choosing Kazan as the venue, the Consul General said Tatarstan is among the dynamically growing and wealthier regions of Russia, offering opportunities for businesses from both countries to expand their engagement.
“And this city of Kazan and this region of Tatarstan is one of the dynamically growing and one of the richest parts of Russia, which is why we are hosting this summit here, this business forum here, so that we have Indian businesses coming here and interacting with their Russian counterparts in order to not only increase awareness about the potential opportunities on the other side for Russia and India as well as for India and Russia, but also to build upon the existing ties and continue to explore what opportunities we would have for strengthening our business interactions, taking it beyond the political spectrum and into the economic relations area,” he added.
Highlighting the longstanding defence cooperation between the two countries, Deviprasadh said Russia and India have maintained close defence ties since the days of the Soviet Union, with Tatarstan hosting several defence manufacturing facilities.
“In terms of defence, Russia and India have had long-standing ties that go back to the days of the Soviet Union. Tatarstan itself has a lot of defence manufacturing facilities. They have a helicopter plant here in the city of Kazan, which comes under the umbrella of Russian Helicopters. They also have an aviation institute and other allied defence manufacturing units here that are manufacturing things that we buy in India. For example, the Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters are partly or wholly manufactured in Tatarstan,” he said.
Speaking about the business opportunities expected from the forum, the Consul General said the event would facilitate business-to-business (B2B) interactions and help Indian and Russian companies explore potential partnerships.
“From this summit, we expect more B2B contacts between chambers of India. In fact, CII is present here, as well as MICCIA are present here. They’re having meetings with their Russian counterparts as we speak now. They will also be present at the forum, which opens tomorrow, where we have planned a series of B2B interactions. And on the platform of the forum, there are displays not only by Russian businesses of Russia but also by Indian businesses, whereby they would meet their counterparts and discuss further cooperation in detail,” he said.
Deviprasadh also highlighted the high-level engagement between India and Russia, noting that the leaders of the two countries had met close to three times in the preceding 12 months. He said the two countries would celebrate the 80th anniversary of their bilateral ties next year.
“In the last 12 months, our leaders have met close to three times, and we would be celebrating the 80th anniversary of our bilateral ties next year. Within that framework, this is the only business forum between India and Russia that is hosted in the territory of Russia, which gives it a greater degree of significance in order to promote the economic ties between our two countries,” he said.
Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kazan for the BRICS Summit in 2024, the Consul General said the visit was followed by a decision to open the Consulate General of India in the city, where he is now serving as the first Consul General.
“The Prime Minister himself was here in 2024 when the BRICS Summit was held here, during which time we decided to open the Consulate General of India in Kazan, and I am, as the first Consul General, implementing that decision,” he added.
The remarks come as India and Russia have significantly expanded their bilateral talks to jointly manufacture the Ilyushin Il-114-300 turboprop and the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SJ-100), as discussions were held with the Russian delegation regarding the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Russia for aircraft manufacturing in India.
Last month, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Dhiraj Seth concluded his three-day official visit to Russia, with engagements focused on capability development, training exchanges, artillery modernisation and sharing of operational experience.
The visit provided fresh impetus to India-Russia defence cooperation through substantive engagements with senior Russian military leadership and visits to key military institutions.
In Moscow, the COAS interacted with General Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation. The discussions covered joint capability development, professional military exchanges and avenues for expanding military-to-military engagement.
Meanwhile, Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu had said that India and Russia have expanded discussions on manufacturing aircraft in the country, including turboprop IL-114 and Sukhoi Superjet 100 planes. (ANI)
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