NEW DELHI, August 15. /TASS/. India and Russia are considering issues related to improvement of bilateral trade through introduction of mutual payments in national currency and reduction of non-tariff barriers, Indian Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters.

"We discussed a lot of issues to improve trade between India and Russia," he was quoted as saying by the Indian Business Standard newspaper referring to meetings with Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and other key officials last month. "We also discussed how to facilitate rupee-ruble trade, how non-tariff measures are impacting our trade and how they should be reduced," Barthwal said, adding that diversification of trade beyond petroleum products was also discussed between the two countries.

According to figures provided by the Indian side, trade turnover between Russia and India currently stands at around $67 bln. Indian exports to Russia reached $4.3 bln during the financial year that ended on March 31, 2023-2024, while imports totaled $61.4 bln due to purchases of Russian oil, whose share in imports amounted to 88%. India’s imbalance in trade with Russia equals $57.1 bln.