Foreign ministers of Russia, China, and India to discuss Syria, Afghanistan, Iran in New Delhi
MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - The foreign ministers of Russia, China, and India will discuss the situation in Syria and Afghanistan and the Iranian nuclear program next week.
"Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will take part in the next, 12th meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India, and China in New Delhi on November 10. The ministers will adopt a joint communique, which will reflect the approved results of the discussions," the Russian Foreign Ministry information and press department said in a commentary posted on the ministry's site.
The meeting participants "will exchange opinions on vital international and regional issues, primarily in connection with the situation in Afghanistan, Syria, the Iranian nuclear program, and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula," the document says. "The meeting will also address issues relating to the formation of a new security architecture in Asia and the Pacific, the intensification of coordination of the actions taken by Russia, India, and China in the UN and on other international platforms, including BRICS and the SCO," the commentary says.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has reported that "some aspects of trilateral interaction in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) will be discussed in connection with the meeting between the foreign ministers of the ASEM countries scheduled to take place in New Delhi on November 11-12."
"The trilateral interaction at the level of the foreign ministers began at the meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York in 2003. The foreign ministers of Russia, India, and China (RIC) met in St. Petersburg in 2006.
A new mechanism, regular consultations between high representatives of Russia, India, and China in charge of security issues was launched in 2013. two such meetings were held (in Moscow in February 2013 and in Vladivostok in July 2013)," the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
"We are also working in the spheres of emergencies, agriculture, healthcare, energy, and contacts between businessmen and academics. In 2012, it was recognized as expedient to transfer these efforts from BRICS to the SCO, which increased the practical feedback from this cooperation," the commentary says.
"The next meeting in the RIC format will take place in China in 2014," the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.
