India, Russia, China to hold meet on June 22

THE MEETING OF THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THE RIC GROUPING IS BEING CONVENED AT THE INITIATIVE OF MOSCOW

NEW DELHI: The foreign ministers of Russia, India and China are expected to hold a meeting via video conference on June 22, people familiar with developments said on Saturday, against the backdrop of heightened tensions between New Delhi and Beijing due to a border stand-off.

The meeting of the foreign ministers of the RIC (Russia-India-China) grouping is being convened at the initiative of Moscow and is largely focused on enhancing cooperation to tackle the fallout of the global Covid-19 pandemic, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

“The three sides are working on the agenda for the meeting and this is expected to be finalised by early next week,” said a person familiar with planning for the meeting.

The people pointed out that the meeting had been in the pipeline for some time and wasn’t linked to the flaring up of tensions between India and China over a tense standoff between border troops along the Line of Actual Control, especially in Ladakh sector.

This would also be the first meeting to be joined by external affairs minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi since the stand-off along the LAC became public. Both leaders had joined a virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation on May 13.

HT had first reported on violent clashes between Indian and Chinese troops on May 10, though the stand-off hadn’t become public at that time.

There was no official word from the Indian side regarding the June 22 meeting, which is yet to be formally announced.