Moscow, Nov 13: Carrying forward the economic and commercial engagement in their strategic partnership, India and Russia today agreed to accord "high priority" to charting out policies to encourage the private sectors in the two countries. To this end, both sides have decided to devise a long-term strategic approach taking into account their mutually complementary strengths, changes anticipated in the nature of bilateral economic ties and the emerging trends at the global level, a joint statement issued at the end of the three-day visit to Russia by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said.
It said there has been "growing interest" in trading in new items such as engineering goods, automobile and components, plastic products, chemicals, it and telecom goods.
They agreed to hold a joint meeting of the concerned statutory bodies of both countries next year for discussing and harmonising national standardization and certification regulations relevant to trade and investment and removing technical trade barriers.
The two sides agreed to hold at an early date the first meeting of an inter-governmental task force which will study the issue of utilisation of rupee debt fund payable to the Russian Federation for Investment Purposes.

Bureau Report