Russia has called on India to replace Turkey in its market. The plea was made during a visit to New Delhi by Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Rogozin’s visit started on 8 December and it was reportedly meant to prepare the grounds for the annual Russia-India Summit scheduled to be held later this month in Moscow.

However, he told reporters he had offered Indian companies a chance to replace Turkish companies in the Russian market.

Rogozin said his meetings with the Indian leadership mostly focused on economic issues. He added that he had called on both sides to work over resolving the “old chronic problems” in economic relations between the two countries.

“These are issues related to the protection of Russian investments; such as the problem in which AFK Sistema is involved and the second “titanium project”. Today, we discussed these issues, and I saw the Prime Minister of India express his desire to ensure that another determined effort is made to resolve these problems before his visit,” said Rogozin.

The settlement of these disputes will open the way for new mutual investments, and intensify trade between the two countries. Especially now, given that some European manufacturers have left the Russian market and cooperation with Ankara is collapsing, favorable conditions for Indian companies are being created, wrote the Russia and India Report news website.

“We believe that these vacated niches can be filled by Indian producers,” said the Russian official. “It may seem that we are placing more emphasis on military-technical cooperation issues, but that is no longer the case. Now we need India primarily as a large trade and economic partner.”

Relations between Russian and Turkey deteriorated last month after Ankara shot down a Russian fighter jet. Ankara said the fighter jet was flying inside the Turkish airspace but Moscow rejected this saying its jet was flying in Syrian airspace where it is carrying out an intensive air campaign against Daesh (ISIL) terrorists in support of the Syrian army.