Piyush Goyal to meet Russian ministers to advance EAEU trade deal talks

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal is set to meet Russia's Trade and Industry Minister Anton Alikhanov and the Trade Minister for the Eurasian Economic Commission, Andrey Slepnev, during the BRICS gathering on Thursday. The discussions may focus on advancing talks for a trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. The EAEU trade pact terms were signed on August 20, 2025.

India aims to broaden its export markets and reduce its trade deficit, which stood at $226.1 billion with the 10 BRICS nations in the fiscal year 2026, up from $74.5 billion in 2021. The BRICS nations' trade with India doubled during this period, reaching $417.5 billion from $203.1 billion in 2021. However, import volumes significantly outweighed export volumes, with India importing $321.8 billion worth of goods in 2026 compared to exports of $95.7 billion.

The agreement is crucial as India seeks to diversify its export destinations. India and Russia have set a bilateral trade target of approximately $100 billion by 2030, with the broader economic partnership focusing on manufacturing, investments, technology cooperation, logistics, localization, and industrial clusters. India's imports from the BRICS nations, primarily China, the UAE, and Russia, accounted for almost 84% of its BRICS imports, with imports from China totaling $131.6 billion and from Russia rising to $55.4 billion in 2025-26.