commerce minister piyush goyalthe government is continuously monitoring the opportunities that the russiaukraine war has opened up for india and is in dialogue with traders to ensure more exports of wheat and other commodities commerce minister piyush goyal told the rajya sabha on friday replying to supplementaries during question hour he said indian wheat exports are set to cross 70 lakh metric tonnes this year from merely 2 lakh metric tonnes two years ago goyal said many ships and containers have been blocked in several european countries following the russiaukraine war and the crisis has only deepened especially after the covid19 crisis advt the government has maintained dialogue with shipping companies and those who operate containers the government is keeping a close watch on the situation and whatever steps are required to be taken it will take action he told the members in the upper house he also said that the government is in dialogue with exporters and importers and those involved in business and various measures are being taken to ensure that payments come on time and businesses do not suffer india despite the constraints due to covid has achieved exports of usd 400 billion which is historic as india has never achieved this figure he also said the minister said india has been continuously monitoring the opportunities this opens up for india and indian exporters we have produced good quality wheat and our exports have grown from 2 lakh metric tonnes two years ago our exporters have exported 10 times more than 21 lakh metric tonnes last year and in the current year we will close the year with over 70 lakh metric tonnes in a year we are working in coordination among various ministries for a smooth shift because ukraine and russia were large exporters of wheat we are on track to increase our wheat exports to current importers agriculture department is in dialogue with various countries for the process to be speeded up and expedited so that newer markets for wheat can be sought goyal said advt he said when the entire government is involved in this efforts are there to provide highquality wheat just as indian rice has become a premium product in the world to another supplementary the minister said as regards trade is concerned trade stands on its own legs and diplomacy and geopolitics stands on its own legs it is important that the two should not be mixed up while one may have an impact on the other due to our excellent relations with many countries goyal said we are able to expand our trade and there is excitement and interest among many countries to have economic partnerships however our national interests and strategic interests will always be supreme over any bilateral relations that we may have with any country he noted in his written reply on the impact of the ukraine crisis on indian industry and commerce goyal said the impact can be assessed only after the situation stabilizes however the