India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday (Dec 27) hailed the “very strong” and “very steady” relationship between New Delhi and Moscow as he met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov to discuss bilateral cooperation in different spheres, international strategic situation, conflicts and tensions.
Jaishankar, who is currently on a five-day visit to Russia, said, “Our relations have been very strong, very steady. And I think we have lived up to a special and privileged strategic partnership.”
He noted that it was his seventh meeting with Lavrov. He said this year “We have already met six times, and this is our seventh meeting”.
The Indian foreign minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin have been in frequent contact as he noted that forums like G20, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, ASEAN, and BRICS allowed many more regular contacts.
Jaishankar said, “We will discuss the international strategic situation, conflicts and tensions, also focus on development challenges that the Global South faces and of course the multilateralism and the building of a multipolar world order.”
“I will also mention our presence at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum at the Far Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok at the meetings. And on the bilateral economic cooperation, the India, Russia intergovernmental commission, which I had co-chaired with Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov,” Jaishankar said.
“We are very glad to see continued progress and we expect a strong Russian participation at the Vibrant Gujarat meeting in January,” he added.
India expects a strong Russian partnership at the Gujarat meeting in January, Jaishankar said, further adding that he and Lavrov will discuss the international strategic situation, conflicts and tensions.
“We expect strong Russian participation at the Vibrant Gujarat meeting in January, including lot of governors from the Far-East. So today I think our meeting. We will focus on bilateral cooperation in different spheres, adjusting it to changing circumstances and demands,” Jaishankar said.
“We will discuss the international strategic situation, conflicts and tensions, where they are, also focus on development challenges that the Global South faces. And of course, the state of multilateralism and the building of a multipolar world order. Look forward to our discussions once again,” he added.
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Lavrov says ‘reliable partnership’
Meanwhile, Lavrov said the relations between India and Russia are very long and very good and it’s good to see that they’re moving on consistently in the present moment.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, Lavrov said, “Our relationship is very long and very good and it’s good to see they are moving consistently in the present moment. We have a reliable partnership and it’s been confirmed by our bilateral relations based on the agreements by Prime Minister Modi and President Putin.”
(With inputs from agencies)
