India, Russia, China hold 2nd trilateral meeting after 12 years

Buenos Aires, December 1

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday held a trilateral meeting, the second among the three countries after a gap of 12 years, on the sidelines of the G-20 summit here to discuss cooperation in various areas.

The Russia-India-China (RIC) meeting came hours after Prime Minister Modi, his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe and US President Donald Trump held their first trilateral meeting on the margins of the summit.

“Deepening engagement with valued development partners. President Vladimir Putin, President Xi Jinping and PM @narendramodi participate in the RIC (Russia, India, China) trilateral in Buenos Aires. @KremlinRussia,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted.

“2nd Russia-India-China ‘RIC’ Trilateral Summit took place in Buenos Aires after a gap of 12 years. In a meeting characterised by warmth and positivity, leaders discussed cooperation and coordination in various areas which could contribute to global peace and stability,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Earlier in the day, India, Japan and the US discussed major issues of global and multilateral interests in their first trilateral meeting, which assumed importance in the wake of China flexing its muscle in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.

At the meeting, India underscored its firm commitment to make the Indo-Pacific a region for shared economic growth.

Asserting that India would “continue to work together on shared values”, Modi said, “When you look at the acronym of our three countries--Japan, America and India--it is ‘JAI’, which stands for success in Hindi.” PTI