NEW DELHI, December 25. /TASS/. The free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is seen as a strategic tool for developing long-term cooperation, Russia’s Trade Representative in India Andrey Sobolev told TASS.

"The dialogue on a free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union remains a separate important area of work," he said.

"The negotiation process is viewed by the parties as a strategic tool for systematically reducing barriers, simplifying access to markets, and creating more favorable conditions for long-term trade and economic cooperation," Sobolev stressed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at the EAEU summit in St. Petersburg on December 21, that New Delhi had expressed its readiness to intensify work on the agreement with the union. He recalled that the first round of consultations on the agreement's text had taken place a month earlier. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk, in turn, noted that the negotiations on the free trade zone between the EAEU and India were successful.