Russia continues to export oil and energy resources to India as Moscow sees opportunities for the export of LNG, Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said on Wednesday.
"We continue to export fuel, including crude oil and oil products, thermal and coking coal. We also see prospects for exporting Russian LNG," Manturov said while co-chairing the 26th session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific-Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).
The Indian side at the meeting was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who came to Moscow on Tuesday on a three-day visit.
"We plan to deepen extensive cooperation in the peaceful nuclear industry, including on the basis of the successful experience of the Kudankulam NPP construction project," Manturov further noted.
He also stressed that trade between Russia and India carried out using national currencies currently exceeds 90 per cent.
"One of the no less significant tasks, particularly in today's realities, is to make mutual settlements smooth. We have already succeeded in making over 90 per cent of payments between India and Russia in national currencies," Manturov said.
The Russian deputy prime minister added that the two nations intend to increase cooperation in the banking sector and improve interbank relationships as well as cooperation in the insurance sector.
After the meeting, Jaishankar posted on social media: "We discussed in depth our collaboration in a broad field ranging from trade & economic sphere, agriculture, energy, industry, skilling, mobility, education and culture. As we look forward to the Annual Summit of Leaders, with the conviction that the results of the IRIGC-TEC meeting today will further energize the tested India-Russia partnership."
Jaishankar and Manturov signed the IRIGC-TEC protocol, of which the details will be announced later by New Delhi and Moscow governments.
Jaishankar had earlier honored Soviet soldiers who died in World War II by laying wreaths on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on the Kremlin Wall.
While on his visit, he also met with experts from prominent Russian think-tanks to discuss new trends in Indian foreign policy.
Ahead of his return to India on Thursday, Jaishankar is set to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to talk about urgent global issues, such as how the Trump administration's sanctions have affected India.
Lavrov and Jaishankar are also likely to define the agenda for the next meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Shanghai Cooperation Summit in China on August 31-September 1.
New Delhi and Washington relations have been tense in recent times after US President Donald Trump increased tariffs on Indian products to 50 per cent, including a 25 per cent additional charge on India's Russian crude oil imports with effect from August 27.
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