President Kovind with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Rashtrapati Bhavan
In a courtesy call made by Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China to Rashtrapati Bhavan, President of India said that India-Russia bilateral ties are strong and the bilateral trade between India and Russia registered a growth of 22% in the first six months of this year. He stated that early functioning of the International North South Transport Corridor can play a significant role in achieving their bilateral trade targets. The President said that institutionalisation of the India-Russia Heads of Think Tanks Forum, which held its 2nd session in Delhi on December 4-5, would be most helpful to both countries.
The President also congratulated Yi on the successful conclusion of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China and stated that India looked forward to work with President Xi Jinping and the Chinese leadership and take their developmental partnership to greater heights. He further said that the India-China ties were important for India’s foreign policy and acknowledged the growth in their economic relations.
The President said that as two major countries of the world, expansion of cooperation bilaterally as well as regionally was in their mutual interest. He was confident that multifaceted relations between India and China would continue to make progress and acquire even greater salience.
It is to be noted that the Foreign Ministers are here in India to participate in the 15th RIC (Russia-India-China) Trilateral Meeting.The meeting, to be hosted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, is expected to review global and regional issues of common interest, Bureaucracy Today reports.
Our Bureau
Our Bureau