Moscow
25 December 2005
Russia says liberalising its visa regime will be a
major point on its agenda with India in the coming year. It hopes to settle
all outstanding issues concerning "immigration" and "readmission" and
conclude an agreement.
"We are interested in relaxing the visa rules [and] we have sent
instructions to our Russian envoy [in India] to keep this in mind," the
deputy minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Mr Alexander
Alekseyev, told this newspaper.
The move follows persistent demands by Indian businessmen and
industry alike for easing the visa regulations in order to give a much-
needed fillip to the Indo-Russian bilateral trade and also boost Indian
investments in Russia.
Concerns had also been expressed after India came to be associated with
countries of potential immigrants who made their way into Europe via
Russia. Mr Alekseyev, however, clarified that Russia should not repeat
not be blamed.
"We are in talks with the European Union [but] it is a complicated issue,"
he observed and referred to the predominant "anti-terrorist" sentiments
among certain EU members and the concerns expressed by them
particularly post-9/11.
Referring to the less than two billion-dollar bilateral trade turnover, Prof
Felix Yurlov of the Centre for Indian Studies at the Institute of Oriental
Studies in Moscow felt that India or Russia "cannot be satisfied with this
state of affairs."
Prof Yurlov said both countries should plan to touch the eight billion-
dollar mark in bilateral trade in the next three or four years. He also
suggested that "governments must encourage businessmen" to
strengthen the trade ties.
"Over 70 per cent of Russian conomy is in private hands, therefore
cooperation of private sector is important. Rules have changed," he
observed and called for raising the bilateral trade "quickly" in military and
civil spheres alike.
India and Russia, Deputy Minister Alekseyev said, "have decided to
intensify efforts to ensure further develoment and diversification of trade
and economic cooperation, and to bring it to a qualitatively new level."
Paying special attention to the promotion of investments, he said a liberal
visa regime would help to support the "comprehensive expansion of
mutually beneficial contacts between business communities of the two
countries."
"We will continue [the] political contacts at different levels and advance
the pace of exchange of opinion in all field of cooperation," he said,
referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent visit to Russia.
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