Russia Pushes For Inclusion Of India Into The Eurasian Economic Union To Enhance Third Country Partnerships

Russia is pushing for India to be inducted into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a move that will open up opportunities for third country partnerships in the Central Asia-Eurasian regions, reports Economic Times.

The step by Russia for India's inclusion into the grouping comes merely days ahead of its Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's visit to India later this month.

As per reports, EAEU has already begun expanding its range of foreign partnerships, having already signed free trade agreements with Serbia and Singapore. Additionally, it is implementing a programme of cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Commission and ASEAN in 2019-2020.

As per Russian Foreign Ministry, the EAEU has already made a decision to hold talks on drafting of a preferential trade agreement with India.

The development comes as a follow up to the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's visit to the Russian territory of Vladivostok last year where he had encouraged Indian-Russian third country partnerships in Central Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia.