Moscow and New Delhi are looking to step up trade in energy and fertilizers amid the Middle East crisis

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov has held talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

After the meeting on Thursday, Modi said the sides had discussed mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, fertilizers, connectivity, and people-to-people ties between India and Russia.

The South Asian nation, which is the world's second largest fertilizer importer, is looking toboost fertilizer importsfrom Russia, Belarus, and Morocco as a supply crunch looms due to the Middle East conflict.

The Middle East accounts for about half of India's fertilizer imports, while Saudi Arabia is its largest diammonium phosphate (DAP) provider and Oman the biggest urea supplier.

Modi and Manturov also discussed the implementation of the outcomes of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit.

"Welcomed the sustained efforts from both sides to implement the outcomes of the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit held during President [Vladimir] Putin's visit to India last December," Modi said in a post on X.

Manturov, who is co-chair of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC), also held talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

The visit assumes significance as New Delhi prepares to host a BRICS summit in September. President Putin is likely to travel to participate in the summit, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said earlier this week.

Manturov is also reportedly laying the groundwork for Modi's proposed visit to Moscow later this year, as indicated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov last month.

(RT.com)