Trade and economic ties between India and Russia are to top the agenda of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Russian President Vladimir Putin's summit meeting in Moscow in November.

"Trade and economic relation is the area, which needs more attention. Bilateral trade with Russia is $1.2 billion, which is as much as our trade with Sri Lanka," Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, who was Moscow to prepare the groundwork for the summit, said in an interview to Kommersant daily published on Wednesday.

Noting that the two countries have a strong cooperation in the field of defence, Sibal called for enhancing bilateral trade ties.

"We have a very strong cooperation (with Russia) in the field of defence, which is a very important area but it should not be the only field.

"The task in front of us is to take our bilateral trade to a freely convertible currency, simplify custom procedures, develop transport corridors, create banking channels to allow faster and effective transfer of funds etc," Sibal said.