India-Russia trade surging, ambassador tells RT

New Delhi has stepped up purchases of Russian oil and fertilizers over the past few months

Trade turnover between India and Russia has grown in both volume and scope in recent months, Indian Ambassador to Moscow Pavan Kapoor told RT on Tuesday.

“There is tremendous hope for increasing our trade and economic cooperation. We’ve seen just in the last few months a certain change in the direction of trade. We are certainly buying lots more oil from Russia, and fertilizers also... There is a greater demand from Russia for many more products: consumer goods, food-processing items, auto parts… including, of course, traditional items like textiles, tea, pharmaceuticals... I think all these areas, including many more, will also get a push, hopefully very soon in the future,” the ambassador said.

Kapoor also noted that businesses in both countries have been working to overcome the obstacles to closer cooperation posed by sanctions.

“Obviously, there is the new reality, there are many banks which are sanctioned, there are logistical issues, there are payment issues which have to be overcome. We have to find a way forward. And I think the two parties and businessmen on both sides are working together to see what is the best way to overcome these obstacles. But I’m sure they’ll work together and find some way out,” he stated.

Earlier this week, reports emerged that Moscow and New Delhi are also discussing mutual acceptance of Russia's Mir and India's RuPay payment cards, as well as options to implement each other’s interbank transfer services: India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and SPFS, the Russian version of SWIFT.

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