Customs Union seeks to boost ties with India

"We are here on the invitation of the Indian government. We have two objectives in mind: to ensure transparency of our cooperation taking into consideration economic integration in the Customs Union and to develop a mechanism to considerably advance the cooperation between India and the Customs Union. India and the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia have special economic and political relations and hold similar views on the international agenda, Viktor Khristenko added, BelTA reports.

The parties agreed to arrange a meeting between representatives of India and the Customs Union on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2013 to decide what type of document could give a new impetus to the relations between India and its Customs Union partners, the press service informed.

"The Customs Union is open for enlargement opportunities, but it is a long and difficult way. In this regard collaboration with other countries and associations comes to the forefront. We are ready to grow bigger, but not at the expense of the depth of integration," Viktor Khristenko said. In his words, the Customs Union would like to expand cooperation with regional integration alliances and unions based on other grounds, like BRICS. "We have determined to deepen ties with our strategic partners," he said.