The spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed Jaishankar’s participation in the meeting. (FOLDER)
New Delhi:
Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar will attend a virtual conference on the Russia-India-China trilateral on June 23 held in the context of a violent border clash between Chinese and Indian troops in the Galwan Valley, in eastern Ladakh.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava confirmed Jaishankar’s participation in the meeting.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will be the other two participants in the conference. Uncertainty hung over the meeting following the cross-border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley on Monday evening.
Twenty Indian army soldiers were killed in heavy melee clashes with Chinese troops in the largest ever confrontation between the two sides after an interval of 45 years. India has held China responsible for the “pre-mediation” action.
The clashes have considerably aggravated the already unstable deadlock on the border between the two neighbors.
“The Minister of External Affairs will participate in the meeting,” said Srivastava during an online press briefing.
In a telephone conversation, Jaishankar told Wang on Wednesday that the “unprecedented” incident in the Galwan Valley will “have a serious impact” on bilateral relations and said that “the premeditated action” by the Chinese army was responsible for the violence.
Srivastava said the meeting will deliberate on the coronavirus pandemic as well as issues related to global security and financial stability.
It is unlikely that the border deadlock between India and China will figure at the meeting as bilateral issues are generally not discussed in a trilateral format, sources said, citing the convention.
“It will be a good opportunity for the three countries to come together and discuss regional issues in order to synchronize our views to help support regional stability,” said a senior diplomat at PTI on condition of anonymity.
Russia has already said that India and China should resolve the border dispute through talks and that a “constructive” relationship between the two countries is important for regional stability.
The three foreign ministers are also expected to deliberate at length on the political situation in Afghanistan after the United States signed a peace agreement with the Taliban in February.
The agreement called for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, effectively drawing the curtains of Washington’s 18-year war in the country.
The RIC Foreign Ministers’ Meeting is also expected to discuss key connectivity projects in the region, including the implementation of the 7,200 km North ~ CHECK ~ South International Transport Corridor (INSTC). long connecting India, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia to Europe. .
