President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday met the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China at Rashtrapati Bhavan and said that…
(Photo: AFP)
President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday met the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China at Rashtrapati Bhavan and said that a stronger bilateral relation between the three nations was in the interest of all.
Kovind met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov individually ahead of the 15th round of Russia-India-China trilateral meeting that was hosted by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.
Welcoming the Russian Foreign Minister, Kovind said: “India-Russia bilateral ties are strong. This year we have witnessed intensification in our high-level engagements.”
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The President was happy to note that bilateral trade between India and Russia registered a growth of 22 per cent in the first six months of this year.
He stated that early operationalisation of the International North South Transport Corridor can play a significant role in achieving our 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.
“We should continue with our efforts to bring our think tanks and academic communities closer,” he said.
In his meeting with Wang, the President congratulated him on the successful conclusion of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China and said that India was looking forward to working with President Xi Jinping to take the Indo-China developmental partnership to greater heights.
“We view India-China ties as important in our foreign policy. Our high-level exchanges and interactions have maintained momentum. Our economic engagement is growing. We are also seeing cooperation on many international issues,” he said.
The President said that as two major countries in the world, expansion of cooperation bilaterally as well as regionally is in our mutual interest. He was confident that multifaceted relations between India and China will continue to make progress and acquire even greater salience.
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