Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has inflicted a trade crunch on Moscow and medical equipment has been one of the top needs. Russia has now turned to India to fulfill the logistical requirement, media reports suggest.
Rajiv Nath, an official of the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry, said that a meeting has been scheduled for April 22, where companies from both India and Russia will discuss trade requirements and seek to boost supplies, NDTV reported.
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Business Russia, a Moscow-based group that promotes bilateral ties, confirmed that the event has been slated.
India and Russia have reportedly been working towards boosting bilateral trade and have also attempted to devise a cold war-era payment system, which uses local currency for payments, NDTV reported.
The news comes as Western and pro-Ukrainian countries have served Moscow with a series of sanctions that are aimed to put the country’s economy in a significant crunch. These sanctions also include personal embargos on senior officials of the Kremlin, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and his family.
India has also been in the crosshairs of the United States and other NATO countries for not initiating similar sanctions and restricting its trade with Russia. India’s purchase of oil from Moscow has seen an uptick since February 24, when Ukraine was invaded by Russian forces.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has, meanwhile, resorted to extreme financial measures to blunt the West’s penalties and inflate his currency.
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Russia’s Central Bank has jacked up interest rates to 20% and the Kremlin has imposed strict capital controls on those wishing to exchange their rubles for dollars or euros.
Sanctions on Russian financial institutions and companies, on trade and on Putin’s power brokers were crushing the country’s economic growth and prompting hundreds of international companies to stop doing business there, according to reports from Associated Press.