Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, April 1: Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar on Friday at Hyderabad House in New Delhi to hold bilateral talks.
On Thursday, Lavrov landed in India for a two-day official visit. Lavrov’s visit to India is his first since Moscow began a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24.
Lavrov’s visit follows China’s foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to India last week, and it comes before of the 2+2 meeting between India and the United States on April 11.
Lavrov met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Wednesday in China, and the two agreed to expand bilateral ties. Lavrov briefed China on the Russia-Ukraine discussions, stating that Russia is dedicated to reducing tensions, continuing peace talks with Ukraine, and keeping dialogue with the international community.
“Our bilateral relations have continued to grow in many areas. Our meeting takes place in a difficult international environment quite apart from the pandemic. India has always been in favour of resolving disputes through diplomacy,” said EAM S Jaishankar.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov appreciated India’s stand in Ukraine crisis.
“These days our western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine. We do not fight anything and we appreciated that India is taking this situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way,” said Russian FM Sergey Lavrov.
“India and Russia have been developing strategic partnerships and this has been our priority. We certainly are interested in having the world order balance. We have intensified our bilateral context. Our President has sent his best regards to PM Modi,” he added.