New Delhi, February 14
A trilateral meeting of Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China concluded here today, with a two-point strong message for the USA.

The three countries made clear their opposition to the weaponisation of outer space and pitched for a multi-polar world with a central role of the United Nations for the peaceful resolution of all conflicts.

The message was clearly intended for Washington, though a joint communique after the trilateral meeting emphasised that the platform was not intended against the interests of any country.

Later at a joint press conference, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing explained at length, as his Indian and Russian counterparts Pranab Mukherjee and Sergey Lavrov looked on, the objectives of the trilateral meeting and why it was a great success.

It only showed that the India-Russia-China axis, first mooted by Russia about a decade ago, was finally taking shape.

This became apparent after today’s trilateral meeting, which virtually institutionalised the concept and agreed that the next such meeting would be held in China.

An indulgent Chinese Foreign Minister said the only outstanding issue that remained in this respect was in which Chinese town or city the governments of India and Russia would like to have this meeting.

They noted that the mechanism of trilateral meetings was a manifestation of enhanced mutual understanding and trust among the three countries.

They agreed that the summit-level trilateral meeting held at St. Petersburg on July 17 last on the sidelines of the G-8 Summit demonstrated the willingness of the three sides to carry forward consultations on issues of shared interest at the highest political level.

The three sides stressed the importance of reforms at the UN, including the UN Security Council, in order to deal with the myriad challenges of today’s world more effectively.

They shared the view that member states should aim to make the UN more transparent, efficient and reflective of contemporary realities and agreed to take steps in this direction.

In this context, the Foreign Ministers of Russia and China reiterated that their countries attached great importance to the status of India in international affairs and supported India’s aspirations to play a greater role at the United Nations.

The ministers noted that international terrorism continued to pose a grave threat to all nations and expressed concern about the new and evolving forms of the menace.

They agreed that under the central and coordinating role of the UN and within the framework of its global counter-terrorism strategy, collective action must be strengthened further by taking into account the mutating character of terrorism and its networks.

They agreed that there could be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed.

They stressed that selective approaches in counter-terrorism could not yield sustainable results and it should be combated in a consistent, sustained and comprehensive manner without any double standards.

Mr Mukherjee made three specific announcements after the trilateral meeting: that India would host a trilateral business meeting with the participation of businessmen from the three countries later this year for considering specific initiatives in areas such as civil aviation, energy, biotechnology, information technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services; that India had proposed that it would host a trilateral seminar on emerging geo-strategic trends with the participation of officials and scholars in 2007; and that the ministers also discussed the formalities of expert-level discussions among the three countries on issues such as energy, biotechnology and public health.

This was the sixth India-Russia-China trilateral Foreign Ministers meeting and the second time that the three Foreign Ministers met exclusively for a trilateral meeting after the first one in Vladivostok in June 2005.

In July 2006, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao met in St. Petersburg for the first summit-level trilateral meeting.