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India Keen to Export Meat, Dairy Products to Russia

Russia is considering whether to accept the offer of fish, meat, powdered milk and butter exports from India, as the government scrambles to replace food products that have fallen under an embargo it imposed last month.

During talks on Tuesday with Vasily Lavrovsky, head of Russia's food safety watchdog, Indian diplomats said New Delhi is ready to give its full support to Moscow in terms of supplying quality produce.    

Russia's government last month brought in a one-year ban on food imports worth about $9 billion from countries that have imposed sanctions against Moscow for its role in the Ukraine crisis.

Lavrovsky said the ban will give more countries like India, a fellow member of the BRICS developing nations, the chance to gain a foothold in the Russian market, but only if their products meet the sanitary requirements of Russia and its Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan.  

Last year, President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to increase bilateral trade between the two countries from $11 billion a year to $20 billion by 2015.

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