New Delhi, March 29 (IANS): External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday co-chaired the review meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission (ICG) with Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, to strengthen bilateral cooperation across all domains.
Agreeing to prepare for the seventh IGC meeting later this year, both leaders noted that the immediate goal is to get trade back to earlier levels.
"Pleased to co-chair the review meeting of our Inter-Governmental Commission with FM @DmytroKuleba of Ukraine. Noted the importance of further strengthening cooperation in all domains. Our immediate goal is to get trade back to earlier levels," EAM Jaishankar said in a post on X.
"Perspectives on trade, health, S&T, and agriculture cooperation shared today were useful. We agreed to prepare for the 7th IGC meeting later this year," he added.
In the year 2021-22, India's total export of agricultural and allied commodities to Ukraine was around $85.49 million, which was 0.3 per cent lower than the previous year ($85.76 million in 2020-2021).
The total import of the same commodities from Ukraine in 2021-2022 was of the order of $2,117.38 million, approximately 23 per cent higher than the previous year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.
Major exports from India to Ukraine are pharmaceutical products, reactors/boiler machinery, mechanical appliances, oil seeds, fruits, coffee, tea, spices, iron and steel etc.
According to the Embassy of India in Kiev, the country is Ukraine's largest export destination in the Asia-Pacific and the fifth-largest overall export destination.
The sixth session of the India-Ukraine IGC on trade, economic, scientific, technical, industrial, and cultural cooperation was held in Kiev on February 5-6, 2018.
In his first telephone call with EAM Jaishankar in January 2024, Kuleba discussed holding the IGC and said that the "rejuvenation of this primary mechanism of our bilateral ties will allow us to jointly move forward in a comprehensive manner".
As the two leaders met in the capital on Friday, they discussed the ongoing conflict with Russia and its wider ramifications.
In his opening remarks at the meeting with Kuleba and his delegation, EAM Jaishankar said that the Ukrainian leader's visit gives India an opportunity to understand the situation in Kiev, and he looks forward to hearing his perspectives on the same.
The two leaders spoke on global and regional issues of mutual interest and Delhi reiterated its commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
Kuleba began his two-day official visit to India on Thursday to reinvigorate bilateral ties and build on the dialogue between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for peace.