NEW DELHI, November 7. /TASS/. Russia and India are finalizing the operational relaunch of the Chennai-Vladivostok eastern maritime corridor, Russian Consul General in Chennai Oleg Avdeev told TASS.

"The discussion of implementing the project for relaunching the Vladivostok-Chennai maritime corridor is at the closing stage of coordination," the diplomat said.

Both countries are interested in resuming the operations of the sea route from Chennai to Vladivostok, Avdeev said. "This is of mutual interest because the [corridor’s] restart will give a major impetus to bilateral trade development," he stressed. The first test voyage has already been completed over this route, taking just 17 days from port to port, the diplomat added.

The maritime transport corridor from the port of Chennai to the port of Vladivostok functioned successfully in the Soviet era. In 2019, the Russian Ministry of Transport and the Indian Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways signed an agreement for developing marine traffic between the ports of Vladivostok and Chennai on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.