'India of Today and Russia of Today Are More Ambitious Than Ever'

India and Russia are looking into ways to improve transport links between the two countries in order to boost trade and economic cooperation, Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran said Friday.

GOA (Sputnik) — Ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit in Goa, Saran told reporters:

"We are also looking at the importance of improving connectivity between India and Russia because this has proved to be obstacle in the growth of our trade and economic partnership."

The BRICS Business Council will also meet on the sidelines of the summit of the five-nation BRICS, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday and will be visited by the Russian president. The council will discuss ways to spur intra-BRICS economic cooperation.

Russia and India are looking for new ways to cooperate in the energy, infrastructure, rail, agriculture and high-tech sectors, the ambassador added.

"I would say that today, the India of today and the Russia of today are more ambitious than they have ever been in the past about finding new areas and moving forward," Saran said.

The BRICS Business Council is a platform which serves to promote business, trade and investment ties between the BRICS member states. It was established in 2013 during the Fifth BRICS Summit in South Africa.

BRICS is an association of five economies, which comprise over one third of the world’s population. BRICS member states, China, Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa, have a combined nominal GDP equivalent to approximately 20 percent of the gross world product.