NEW DELHI, April 18. /TASS/. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has thanked Denis Manturov, deputy prime minister and head of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade for his visit to New Delhi expressing confidence that their exchange of opinions will facilitate the progress of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The top Indian diplomat said that a meeting of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC) which took place during the visit was productive, thanking Russian Deputy Prime Minister "Denis Manturov and his delegation for the visit." "Reviewed progress of trade & economic cooperation. Agreed on importance of diversification and trade balance [in bilateral trade]," Jaishankar wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

"Confident that this open exchange of views will help us in furthering our bilateral economic agenda," he added.

On April 17-18, Manturov visited India. According to the republic’s Foreign Ministry, the participants of the IRIGC-TEC session "agreed to work together to unlock its full potential including through addressing the trade deficit and market access issues." According to the Indian diplomatic agency, in New Delhi, the senior Russian official also held bilateral meetings with Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Ajit Doval, the national security advisor to the Indian premier.