Carrying forward the economic and commercial engagement in their strategic partnership, India and Russia on Thursday agreed to accord "high priority" to charting out policies to encourage the private sectors in the two countries.

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To this end, both sides have decided to devise a long-term strategic approach taking into account their mutually complementary strengths, changes anticipated in the nature of bilateral economic ties and the emerging trends at the global level, a joint statement issued at the end of the three-day visit to Russia by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said.

It said there has been "growing interest" in trading in new items such as engineering goods, automobile and components, plastic products, chemicals, IT and telecom goods.

They agreed to hold a joint meeting of the concerned statutory bodies of both countries next year for discussing and harmonising national standardisation and certification regulations relevant to trade and investment and removing technical trade barriers.

The two sides agreed to hold at an early date the first meeting of an inter-governmental task force which will study the issue of utilisation of rupee debt fund payable to the Russian federation for investment purposes.

New Delhi and Moscow also decided to facilitate establishment of an Indo-Russian Business Centre next year with the assistance of the Joint Business Council and their other apex trade and industry bodies.

Acknowledging the potential of the North South Transport Corridor project to radically transform the existing connectivity between India and Russia, the two sides agreed to accelerate this process through improvement of infrastructural links and harmonisations and standardisation of procedures.

To facilitate increased contacts between businessmen of the two countries, they agreed to consider liberalising travel laws for businesspersons accredited with their nationally recognised trade bodies.

Welcoming the setting up of a commercial bank in Moscow by the State Bank of India and Canara Bank, the two sides agreed to facilitate establishment of at least one branch of a commercial bank of the two countries in each other's markets by 2005.

The Indian side reaffirmed its support for early accession of Russia to the World Trade Organisation and agreed to strengthen their coordination and cooperation in this regard.

They decided to continue the process of consultations on various tariff and non-tariff issues relating to bilateral trade, the statement said.