MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Russia and India are actively working to expand trade and economic cooperation, Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second Asian Department Alexander Kozlov said on Friday.

"According to official data, trade turnover amounted to $35.3 bln at the end of 2022. The growth rate reached 160%. We are actively working in a bilateral format to increase Indian imports, as their volume has recently remained virtually unchanged," he said.

According to the diplomat, Russia is also actively working with Indian counterparts to reduce dependence on Western countries in the areas of settlement, transport and infrastructure.

In addition, Kozlov said that Moscow hopes to begin negotiations soon on a free trade zone agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and India. "This is a long process that we support, working together to remove restrictions and barriers to trade in the interests of increasing the volume of investment. The signing of a new agreement on mutual investment protection is on the agenda. We expect to start negotiations soon on an agreement on a free trade zone between the EAEU and India," he said.