NEW DELHI, Dec 15: India, Russia and China vowed to boost trade and investment with each other after a one-day meeting that saw officials and businessmen from the three countries gather in New Delhi this weekend.

A top Indian foreign official admitted that the three countries needed to do much more to further economic links.

“Investment between these three countries is quite insignificant,” said Nalin Surie on Saturday, according to a Press Trust of India agency report.

“India, China and Russia have huge raw material and energy reserves. All three of us should come together to form a India-China-Russia business partnership.” The Russian ambassador to New Delhi, Vyacheslav I. Trubnikov, said he looked forward to further investment in his country’s energy resources by the energy-hungry Asian nations.

“The three of us can work together to promote joint ventures that could infuse more investments in oil exploration and production blocks in Russia, ensuring energy security in India and China,” said Trubnikov, according to PTI.

But the countries vowed to work together in other arenas as well, including technology, pharmaceuticals and services, according to a statement from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

Chinese delegate Bu Jian Guo said efforts needed to be made to surpass the three-way trade of $39 billion, the statement from FICCI, one of the conference organisers, said.

Bilateral trade between China and India stands at $25 billion while trade between China and Russia is double that. Trade between India and Russia is at a mere four-billion dollars, much of it focused on military spending.

Saturday’s meeting marked the first joint gathering by the three nations on strengthening economic cooperation. The next three-way conference will take place in China in 2009.—AFP