Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.
The Russian readout of the meeting said that both ministers discussed Ukraine issues and preparations for the upcoming BRICS Summit. The BRICS, an economic and political group of five emerging nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, heads of state will meet in Russia’s Kazan in October for a leadership summit.
The readout also said that Lavrov discussed with Jaishankar the situation in Asia-Pacific and ‘Western efforts to introduce NATO elements into the region’. It also said that they also discussed issues related to Russia-India bilateral relationship and other matters of global importance.
Lavrov’s reference to ‘NATO-like elements’ comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Joe Biden at his home in Wilmington for the Quad Summit along with Fumio Kishida of Japan and Anthony Albanese of Australia.
Vowing to be “a force for good with lasting, positive impact on the Indo-Pacific,” Quad leaders stated in the “Wilmington Declaration” that their nations are “more strategically aligned than ever” and will “strengthen the Indo-Pacific for decades ahead”, referring to the region that Russia referred to as Asia-Pacific.
Russia in the past has expressed its apprehensions towards the Quad grouping and in 2023 said it, along with AUKUS, is an attempt to contain China.
Former Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, on the sidelines of SCO defence ministers’ meeting in 2023, stated that the US and its allies are actively resisting the creation of a multipolar world in the Asia-Pacific by using military and political alliances like Quad and AUKUS, which are “merging with NATO,” as counter-measures.
Biden insisted that the group would survive whatever the political situation.
“While challenges will come, the world will change because the Quad is here to stay,” Biden told the leaders in his public remarks before journalists were ushered out.
Asked by reporters if the Quad would make it past the November 5 election, Biden replied: “Way beyond November. Way beyond November.”
PM Modi made a similar pledge.
“Our message is, the Quad is here to stay,” PM Modi, who is due to host next year’s Quad summit in India, said.
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