Russia-India-China summit might take place in near future, claims President Putin's aide

Russia's Presidential aide Yury Ushakov claimed that Russia, India and China summit might take place in the near future, noting that the topic of collaboration between the three nations was discussed during the Putin-Xi meeting on Wednesday, December 15. Ushakov stated that the topic of cooperation in the Russia-India-China (RIC) format was addressed in the virtual meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, ANI reported. He underlined that the two leaders agreed to continue exchanging views on this matter and to work on holding the next summit within the RIC framework as soon as possible.

According to the Presidential aide, Putin informed Jinping about his recent visit to India in this regard. Ushakov went on to say that the "topic of collaboration" within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) was also discussed in depth during the meeting and that it was emphasised that this is effectively a new kind of international platform. He also stated that the RIC framework is based on openness, transparency, mutual respect, and consideration of one another's interests and concerns. 

EAM Jaishankar chaired the 18th RIC Foreign Ministers' meet in November

Earlier on November 26, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar chaired the 18th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China (RIC) in New Delhi. The virtual meeting was attended by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss important regional and global issues. During the meet, Jaishankar stressed the approach towards global development. He also urged the RIC countries to coordinate their approaches on terrorism, radicalisation, as well to as provide necessary assistance to Afghanistan.

It should be mentioned here that the last RIC Foreign Ministers' meet was held in September 2020 in Moscow. In the meeting, the ministers had noted that the shared development and cooperation of three countries is conducive to promoting global growth, peace and stability. The ministers had also agreed that the three nations could make a substantial contribution to minimising the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic because of their strong scientific and industrial capacities.

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: AP/PIB