The Rupee-Rouble trade has not yet taken off as banks and service sector companies with ties to the United States are cautious about risking sanctions, according to government sources cited by CNBC-TV18.
India’s negotiating team is set to visit Russia in February following the Union Budget 2026 for the second round of talks aimed at establishing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
On August 20, 2025, India and the EAEU signed the Terms of Reference (ToR) in Moscow to initiate discussions on an FTA. The EAEU includes Russia, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan, with observer status granted to Cuba, Moldova, and Uzbekistan.
Government sources emphasized that key topics such as gateway issues, defense exports, and technology transfer are expected to arise during the FTA negotiations with Russia, underlining the potential for labor mobility across various sectors, despite some language barriers that may hinder labor mobility in the services industry.
Sources added that with the Russian economy currently focused on wartime efforts, most of its consumer product imports are sourced from China, although marine exports from India are already showing an upward trend.
Russia has begun to relax import requirements for Indian marine products and is reportedly moving toward further easing. Earlier reports indicated that discussions would concentrate on reducing non-tariff barriers affecting the export of Indian goods to the EAEU bloc. India is looking to address the concerns of its exporters, who currently deal with regulatory overlap among Russian, EAEU, and European regulations.
Sources have noted that India aims to clarify the rules regarding exports of products that require labeling in Russian, both on and off the packaging.
(Edited by : Navneet Singh)
First Published: Jan 2, 2026 9:53 PM IST
