New Delhi, Aug. 25 -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday assured India of supplies of energy and fertilisers amid disruptions caused by the West Asia conflict, even as external affairs minister S Jaishankar highlighted the need to address the growing imbalance in two-way trade that has soared to $50 billion. Putin's expected meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Kyrgyzstan this month and at the Brics Summit in New Delhi in September were discussed during a meeting between the Russian leader and Jaishankar in Moscow. Jaishankar is in Russia to co-chair a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). Putin pointed out that bilateral trade has increased this year, after declining slightly in 2025, and said Russia is increasing fertiliser supplies to India. He noted that: "One of these issues is not only energy - it is, of course, the supply of fertilisers.We are doing everything to resolve this issue for Indian farmers, for agriculture. We are increasing these supplies and are ready to do so further." The two sides are also making progress on cooperation in nuclear energy and high-tech, Putin said. Jaishankar said Modi hopes Putin will attend the Brics Summit in New Delhi during September 12-13. "Prime Minister Modi looks forward to meeting you at the SCO Summit and also hopes that you will have the opportunity to come to the Brics Summit and host this annual summit," Jaishankar was quoted as saying by state-run TASS news agency. He also handed over a personal message from Modi to Putin. While co-chairing the IRIGC-TEC meeting with Russia's first deputy prime minister Denis Manturov, Jaishankar pointed out that a more than four-fold increase in bilateral trade in goods - from $13 billion in 2021-22 to nearly $60 billion in 2025-26 - had been "accompanied by a significant widening of the trade imbalance" from $6.6 billion to more than $50 billion. "Addressing this imbalance is today one of our foremost priorities. Progress on market access, removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers, strengthening payment mechanisms and stronger business-to-business engagement will be critical for addressing this imbalance and achieving our shared objective of $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030," Jaishankar said at the start of the meeting. Jaishankar proposed focusing on implementation, stronger business engagement and identifying new areas for economic cooperation. Manturov said Rosatom's role in building the Kudankulam nuclear plant could provide a basis for expanding nuclear cooperation, including "new power generation facilities in India" and localisation of equipment and nuclear fuel production. The prototype of a high-speed electric train jointly produced by India and Russia will be assembled by the end of the year, after which serial production is expected to begin, Manturov announced at the meeting. "Within this framework, the flagship project in transport engineering - the development and production of the Vande Bharat electric trains - is systematically developing," he said. Manturov also prioritised energy security, including oil, petroleum products and coal supplies, as well as joint investments in hydrocarbon production and processing. Russia is among India's top two energy suppliers. Russian energy minister Sergei Tsivilev described India as a key partner for the country's fuel and energy sector, while deputy prime minister Alexander Novak noted that Moscow is interested in Indian investments in the Russian oil and gas sector, and developing a distribution network involving Russian companies in India....