India, Belarus talk trade, Ukraine

New Delhi, November 9

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar here today held talks with his visiting Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei on a range of issues, including bilateral economic engagement and the Ukraine conflict. Belarus is one of Russia’s staunchest allies in its conflict with Ukraine and has hosted thousands of Russian soldiers.

• EditoriaI: India-Russia bonhomie

Makei’s visit came a day after Jaishankar met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow and stressed how oil supply from Russia was crucial for India. With India becoming Russia’s second-largest oil customer after China, the US today said the trade didn’t violate sanctions. Washington also reiterated that it was committed to working with New Delhi to lessen its dependence on Moscow for energy and arms.

Makei arrived here Wednesday morning on a three-day visit. Belarus is a major exporter of potash fertilisers and has been restricting its trade due to the current volatile conditions in the global market. Both countries have established mechanisms for exchanging views on bilateral, regional and multilateral issues through foreign office consultations (FOCs), India-Belarus inter-governmental commission (IGC) and Commission on Military Technical Cooperation. Jaishankar had earlier met Makei on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September this year and on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, around the same time last year.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price, asked about the unprecedented expansion of trade ties between India and Russia, said, “We have been intentional about exempting oil and gas—energy sector—from the sanctions imposed on Russia. The fact that India continues to seek oil and other forms of energy from Russia isn’t something that runs afoul of sanctions that have been imposed.”

Price, however, maintained Russia “wasn’t a reliable source of energy and security assistance”. “It’s in India’s own interest that it decreases its dependence on Moscow, given what we have seen from Russia, Ned Price added.

Incentives for exports in Rupee

• India has made amendments in the Foreign Trade Policy and Handbook of Procedures to facilitate international trade settlement in rupees. This will permit invoicing, payment and settlement of exports/imports in rupees, said an official note.
• “The amendments have been undertaken to facilitate and to bring ease in international trade transactions in rupees,” the statement read.