MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) – The current political situation has created the perfect conditions for strengthening business cooperation between India and Russia, Pundi Srinivasan Raghavan, the Indian Ambassador to Moscow said Tuesday.
Ambassador Raghavan was speaking at the plenary session of Indo-Russian Business Dialogue Forum, taking place Tuesday at Rossiya Segodnya News Agency Press Center.
"Russia is now looking at the east for developing its economic and technical cooperation. India is also looking at Russia, so the time is right for us to take advantage of these opportunities and to build on the mutual benefit," Ambassador Ragahvan said.
He also expressed hope that the forum will help raise awareness about India's economic potential, exchange ideas and introduce projects, which could be beneficial for both countries’ business, trade and investment development.
Russia's relations with the West have deteriorated significantly over the Ukrainian crisis. Western politicians and media have repeatedly accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs even though Moscow has denied any involvement. Over the past few months, a number of Western countries, including the EU member states, have introduced several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia.
Amid the ongoing standoff with the West, Moscow has increased its economic cooperation with the BRICS, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.