Digital Currency Usage Will Further Boost Russia-India Trade: Economist
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova highlighted this week that Russia’s trade with India, China and several other Asia-Pacific nations have been witnessing explosive growth since last year.
SputnikAs bilateral trade volumes between India and Russia continue to witness unprecedented growth in 2023, an Indian economist has told Sputnik India that the usage of digital currency between the two time-tested friends could lend a further boost to economic relations.
Last year, bilateral trade hit an all-time high of $45 billion, thanks to surging Russian crude exports to India.
Indian economist Aakash Jindal spoke to Sputnik India on bilateral trade between India and Russia.
Sputnik India: Noted American entrepreneur Michael Goddard has said that Asian companies could fill the niche left by the exit of western manufacturers in the Indian market? How do you view the statement?
Aakash Jindal: Surely, I think Asian companies can do lot of business with Russia.
For us, in India, Russians have been our old friends. Russia has been a big trading partner. As of today, Russia is our biggest supplier of crude.
So, Asian countries, including India, could do lot more business with Russia. There is a lot of business potential.
Sputnik India: What goods and services can India offer to the Russian market?
Jindal: To begin with, Indians have been big exporters of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services to many countries. We can export the same to Russia as well.
In terms of IT exports, India is already a respected and a big name in European and western markets.
So, I believe that the services are potentially strong area in which India could develop its export base in Russia.
Similarly, India is emerging as a big manufacturer of mobile phones. We are the second biggest manufacturer of mobile phones at present.
We also have a strong domestic automobile manufacturing industry.
As far as our startups are concerned, many of our startups have become unicorns. Indian startups are respected across the world.
In a nutshell, there are a lot of businesses in which we could interact with Russia. Expanding business ties suit both Asian nations as well as Russia. So, I believe it would be mutually convenient for many Asian countries to do business with Russia.
But, obviously, developing this export potential is subject to regulations and local laws.
Sputnik India: How do you view the potential of the digital Ruble in boosting Russia's trade with Asian countries, with India in particular?
Jindal: Well, yes, digital currencies are finding an increasing usage globally now.
With the increase in the usage of digital currencies, business between Russia and Asian countries would surely increase.
We already know the
trade disruptions caused by disconnecting Russian banks from SWIFT Network.
Sputnik India: Will Russia and Asian countries be able to facilitate investment flows through the use of digital currencies and variants of SWIFT?
Jindal: The usage would definitely increase because digital currency is something which is the currency of the future.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also launched a digital Rupee (e₹-R), which is a clear indication that digital currencies are the future.
And people have already started to trade in digital currencies. People are learning to deal in digital currencies, increasingly using to conduct trade.
So, once people get used to doing business in digital currencies, then digital currencies would definitely be big means of doing business with Russia too.
I strongly believe that five to 10 years from now, digital currencies would be widely used.