On Central Asia tour, Jaishankar meets Lavrov

Tribune News Serice

New Delhi, October 11

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Nur-Sultan, the renamed capital of Kazakahstan, and discussed the progress in bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.

Jaishankar had arrived in Kazakhstan from the neighbouring Kyrgyzstan on Monday on the second leg of his three-nation tour to Central Asia.

The minister met Lavrov on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting of the Conference of Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), a meeting that Indian Foreign Ministers tend to skip. “Good to catch up with Russian FM Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the CICA meeting in Nur-Sultan. Noted the progress in our bilateral cooperation. Exchanged notes on Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific,” tweeted Jaishankar.

Critical of the Indo-Pacific concept, Lavrov said the US-led West had inveigled India to join it in order to undermine Russia’s close partnership and privileged relations with India.

In Bishkek, Jaishankar said India was closely following the developments in Afghanistan and underlined the importance of the Taliban regime meeting the expectations of the international community as elaborated in the UN Security Council Resolution 2,593.

The UNSC resolution 2,593 demands that Afghan territory should not be used for sheltering, training, planning or financing terrorist acts; and specifically refers to terrorist individuals proscribed by the UN Security Council, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.