India and Belarus: trade, investment and development

This article covers trade, investment and development cooperation between India and Belarus: trade figures from 2021-22, the main goods traded, the agreements the two countries have signed, the Intergovernmental Commission and economic visits, Indian-funded projects, and ITEC training. It is based on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bilateral brief of June 2026, and figures are those the brief gives for the periods it states.

Bilateral trade

According to the MEA brief of June 2026, which cites the Department of Commerce, India, bilateral trade in US$ million was as follows:

• 2021-22: India's imports 381.08, India's exports 65.34, total 446.42
• 2022-23: imports 67.90, exports 43.91, total 111.81
• 2023-24: imports 15.22, exports 43.83, total 59.05
• 2024-25: imports 37.36, exports 69.33, total 106.69
• 2025-26 (April 2025 to January 2026): imports 48.48, exports 56.15, total 104.63

Goods traded

India's exports to Belarus presently include pharma products, cotton yarn, electric transformers, antibiotics, extracts of coffee and tea, rice, food including marine products, compounds of carbonic acid and ferrous metal goods.

India's imports from Belarus include potash, printed materials, plastic builders ware, flax, engineering parts, PVC, plastics, cord and tyres, glass fibre, hydrazine, carbon electronic sets and nylon threads.

Agreements

The brief states that the two countries have signed a number of agreements and MoUs on subjects including:

• trade and economic cooperation
• culture, education, media and sports
• tourism
• science & technology
• agriculture
• textiles
• Avoidance of Double Taxation
• Promotion and Protection of Investments
• defence and technical cooperation

Intergovernmental Commission

The Indian-Belarusian Intergovernmental Commission (IGC) on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation meets in sessions co-chaired by ministers from both sides. The brief records:

• the 4th IGC, attended by Belarus's Minister of Industry Mr. Anatoly Rusetski (17-18 November 2008)
• the 8th Session, for which Minister of Industry Mr. Vitaly Vovk led the Belarusian delegation (July 2017)
• the 9th Session in Minsk, co-chaired by MoS for Commerce and Industry Shri C. R. Choudhary (September 2018)
• the 10th Session in New Delhi, co-chaired by Belarus's Minister of Industry H.E. Mr. Pavel Utiupin (5 March 2020)
• the 11th Session, held on 10 November 2022 and co-chaired by Foreign Minister Makei and Shri Som Prakash, Minister of State for Commerce & Industry

Visits on trade, industry and energy

From India, visits to Belarus with an economic focus include those of Minister of Industry Shri Sikander Bakht (October 1998), MOS (Coal) Shri Dilip Ray (1999), MOS (Commerce & Industry) Shri Ashwani Kumar (2006) and Minister of Coal Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal (16-19 June 2011). Minister of State for IT and Communication Shri Sachin Pilot visited on 11-13 January 2012, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia on 31 January 2012, and Minister of Commerce and Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman visited Minsk on 6-7 September 2015.

From Belarus, visits to India include:

• Minister of Industry Mr. A.D. Kharlap (2001)
• First Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Vladimir Semashko, for the 4th Ministerial Level Conference on Renewable Energy (25-27 October 2010)
• Prime Minister Mr. Mikhail V. Myasnikovich, on a working visit during IITF-2012 (14 November 2012)
• Minister of Industry Vitaly Vovk, on an official visit (19-22 May 2015) and for the Make In India event (February 2016)
• Deputy Minister of Industry H.E. Mr. Dmitry Kharitonchik, leading a delegation of the National Center for Marketing and Belarusian businesses (17-20 March 2023)
• Deputy Transport and Communications Minister Sergei Dubina, at the Global Maritime India Summit 2023 in Mumbai (17-19 October 2023)

Indian-funded projects

The brief lists two Indian projects in Belarus:

• A Digital Learning Centre in ICT at the High Technology Park in Minsk, set up with Government of India assistance of Rs. 5 crores and operational since February 2011.
• The Grodno Power Project-II, for which BHEL was awarded a contract worth USD 55.5 million under a Government of India credit line for the supply and installation of equipment and machinery. The project was commissioned in June 2013, and the brief states that it is running successfully.

ITEC training

Belarus has been a partner in the ITEC Program of the Ministry of External Affairs since 1993. As of the brief, over 400 Belarusian professionals have benefited through professional courses at designated institutions in India. A two-week special training programme on mobile forensics was organised for Belarusian officials at the National Forensic Sciences University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, under Aid to Eurasia/ITEC.