India and Russia are discussing the possibility of concluding a free trade agreement, ministers of the two countries said today, which will further strengthen bilateral trade relations that have flourished since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said from New Delhi that his government was at an “advanced stage of negotiating” a trade deal that Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Madurov said would guarantee bilateral investment.

India did not explicitly criticize Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict through dialogue.

Russia, a traditional supplier of defense equipment, overtook Iraq last month to become India’s top supplier of crude oil.

According to Madurov, Moscow wants to increase car imports from India to improve the trade balance.

“We need to find a piece in the products that India can replace,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the event. “On civilian projects, we need the same broad cooperation as before the sanctions.”

Source: Reuters, APE-MPE.