Indo-Russian trade was based on rupee-rouble transactions during the Soviet era, which led to India emerging as the biggest trade partner of the former USSR in the developing world. Bilateral trade between India and the former USSR was US$5 billion in 1991.
Current bilateral trade is around US$7 billion, although this is in what is now a smaller market. Nonetheless, the feeling is that U.S. dollar denominated bilateral trade has not assisted with any major developments in cross-border economics and is now becoming an unnecessary liability.
The Bank of Russia, the countries Central Bank stated: “The Central Banks of the two countries have agreed to hold consultations to study the possibility of using national currencies transactions in foreign economic operations between Russia and India.” According to the Bank of Russia, both sides discussed the issue at the 15th session of Indo-Russian working group on banking and financial matters in Hyderabad earlier this month.....FULL STORY
