The two nations are discussing a free trade agreement, the Russian trade minister said in New Delhi on Monday, a move that marks a step-up in commercial ties between India and its dominant weapons supplier. India has not explicitly condemned Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine - which Moscow calls a "special military operation" - and has called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict through dialogue. India imported goods, mainly oil, from Russia worth $51.3 billion from Feb. 24-April 5, compared with 10.6 billion in the same period in the previous fiscal year, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov met
India's foreign and finance ministers on Tuesday, the second day
of his two day visit to the country that came a little over a
week after Ukrainian deputy foreign minister's visit.
In the meeting with the Indian foreign minister, the two
sides "discussed cooperation in the areas of trade, finance,
industry, energy sector, including nuclear power, agriculture,
transport, healthcare, education and culture," the Russian
embassy wrote on Twitter.
Reuters reported in November that Russia was potentially
seeking to import more than 500 products from India for key
sectors including cars, aircraft and trains, given that Western
sanctions have undermined its ability to keep core industries
operating.
India said in December that it shared a list of Indian
products with Moscow for access to Russian markets.
(Reporting by Shivam Patel; Additional reporting by Aftab
Ahmed, editing by Ed Osmond)
