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India & Russia strongly support viable and popular INSTC project: Indian Ambassador to Russia
Jun 18, 2020
NEW DELHI, 18 June 2020: Mr D B Venkatesh Varma, Indian Ambassador to Russia, on Tuesday said, "This is the 20th anniversary year of the idea of International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). India and Russia have been great advocates of the INSTC and continue to be its strong supporters as INSTC has now grown to be a viable and popular international project."
Addressing the webinar on 'Way Ahead for International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC) in Post Covid-19 Endemic' organized by FICCI and Indian Embassy in Moscow, Mr Varma said that going forward, the Embassy of India, Moscow will be happy to organize a 'Stakeholders Conference' by the end of the year with participation from businesses, shipping companies, insurance companies along with other stakeholders to keep the engagements alive in this process of INSTC.
Mr B Vanlalvawna, Indian Ambassador to Azerbaijan said, "We all agree that INSTC since its inception has always recognized the benefits of the project especially in terms of trade with various countries with a viable route and transport links. Azerbaijan joined in 2005 and made significant contributions to make it operational."
He further stated that going forward it is important to keep the stakeholders engaged in the process. He emphasized the need to eventually activate MoUs, council meetings and expert groups, either virtually or through meetings.
Mr B B Swain, Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce stated that INSTC will lead to the reduction of distance by 40% and cost by 30%. He highlighted that INSTC is now an important initiative for India, Iran and Russia and many other countries that have joined as members of INSTC.
Mr Shankar Shinde, Chairman-elect, Federation of Freight Forwarders' Associations in India (FFFAI) stated, "The success of a country's logistics depends on the availability of a transport system that has safety, security and seamless movement as seen in the INSTC process."
Mr G Ravi Kumar, Executive, Director (Distribution, Logistics & Coastal), Container Corporation of India Ltd. (CONCOR) said that the prices of shipping containers are different in the neighbouring countries which if fixed by the Indian government will help in extending our coastal services to those regions.
The INSTC will be a strategically important trade corridor of tremendous promise that could help develop its economic reach with 11 INSTC member countries namely Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman, Syria and Bulgaria. The Corridor will help India to tap the abundant natural resources potential of Central Asian countries for its energy security as they have rich deposits of petroleum, natural gas and uranium along with deposits of fertilizer inputs such as potash.
From India-Russia standpoint, INSTC will provide stimulus to the bilateral trade and investments between the two countries in its endeavour to reach the target of bilateral trade to US$30 billion by 2025 from the present US$8.2 billion. Given that India and Russia have no common borders as such, the INSTC project will become a key factor in the deepening of economic integration in the region.