Important for India, Russia to compare notes on trade, investment: Lavrov to Jaishankar
R
ussian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday underscored the importance of exchanging notes and assessments with partners like India on how bilateral goals are progressing on the issue of trade and investments amid the ongoing changes in the international community.
"With the changes the international community is going through, it's important to compare our notes, our assessments integrally on how we are going to work on the goals set by the Russian President and Prime Minister of India on the economy, trade, investments, tech sphere," he said in his opening remarks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
"We coordinate our actions in an international organisation such as UN Security Council where India is now a non-permanent member... all this is enriching our agenda and I'm confident that today we're going to have a good conversation about all this," he added.
Jaishankar arrived in Moscow on Monday as a part of his two-day visit to Russia, in continuation of the regular high-level dialogue between the two sides. Talks between the two sides are expected to cover a range of bilateral issues and exchange views on various regional and international developments.
He last visited Russia in July 2021 followed by the visit of the Russian Foreign Minister to New Delhi in April 2022.
Ahead of EAM's visit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Russia and India stand for a "more just and equal polycentric world order." "Russia and India stand for the active formation of a more just and equal polycentric world order, and proceed from the inadmissibility of promoting the imperialist diktat on the global arena," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said bilateral relations between the two countries bear the character of a special and privileged strategic partnership and effective interaction mechanisms have been formed between the two countries over the past decade.
Moscow said Lavrov and Jaishankar will discuss ways to advance joint work in the key areas and compare notes on the schedule of upcoming contacts.
"The talks will focus on the trade and investments, transport and logistics, the use of national currencies in mutual settlements, as well as promising projects in the energy sector, especially in the Arctic shelf and the Russian Far East," the ministry said.
It said there would be an exchange of assessments on the current international issues with an emphasis on interaction within the UN, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), Group of Twenty (G20) and RIC (Russia, India, China).
"The Ministers will also discuss India's presidency in the SCO, efforts to fight terrorism, as well as a number of the regional issues, including the formation of a security architecture in the Asia-Pacific region, the situation around the Iranian nuclear problem, state of affairs in Afghanistan, Syria, and Ukraine," the Russian foreign ministry said.
Since the start of the Ukraine conflict earlier this year, India's bilateral ties with Russia have come under the scanner of the West for a surge in oil imports from sanctions-hit Moscow.
The war in Ukraine which has continued for more than eight months has had a significant impact on global food security and has led to a sudden increase in crude prices.
India has not condemned Russia since the start of the conflict and has maintained its independent position. However, on several UN forums, New Delhi has consistently called for a cessation of violence and advocated peace and diplomacy.
✔️ Important for India, Russia to compare notes on trade, investment: Lavrov to Jaishankar
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