For the first time India and Russia have agreed on negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India & the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan & Russia.

As The Hindu had reported earlier, the agreement marks the first FTA negotiations initiated by the NDA government, and discussed by visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin and Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during the 20th session of India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) in New Delhi on Wednesday.

The Indo-Russian Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economics, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) oversees 20 working groups covering trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation.

Other major decisions include proposals for establishment of a ‘Smart City’ in India by the Russian company “Sistema,” joint cooperation for development of potassium and magnesium deposits in Russia, project for launching telecommunication satellites “NextStar” in the geostationary orbit of the Earth on low cost platforms and projects in high end computing. As expected, the focus was largely on boosting economic cooperation.

Mr. Rogozin also co-chaired the eighth India-Russia Forum for Trade and Investments, an active business forum between the two countries, along with the Minister of State for Commerce & Industries Nirmala Sitharaman.

During his visit he called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Both sides also reviewed preparations for the forthcoming visits of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later this month and the Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 15 India-Russia Annual Summit in December.

Other major deals in oil, energy and defence are likely to be signed during Mr. Putin’s visit.