India, Russia hold extensive dialogue on countering terror & coordination in UNSC

India and Russia have held wideraning consultations on UN and other foreign policy agendas with special focus on countering terror and India's UNSC Presidency next month.

According to a Russian Foreign Ministry statement on November 17, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin met Vinay Kwatra, Foreign Secretary and had extensive foreign policy consultations with Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), MEA.

"Issues on the UN agenda were discussed in detail, with an emphasis on the Security Council activities in light of the completion in December of New Delhi's two-year presence in the UNSC as a non-permanent member," the statement added.


"In addition, the sides touched upon topical regional issues, such as the situation in Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Myanmar, as well as state of affairs on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Special attention was paid to the problems of combating terrorism and the UN peacekeeping. The program of India's chairmanship in the UNSC for the coming month was discussed in detail, too," the statement added.

India's chairship could focus on counter-terror issues and New Delhi expects support from Russia, a P-5 member.

The consultations reaffirmed mutual commitment to further strengthen bilateral coordination and constructive cooperation at the UN platform on the basis of its Charter and in line with the special and privileged strategic partnership between Moscow and New Delhi, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement released by the MEA noted that Sanjay Verma, Secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation for consultations on United Nations and multilateral issues with Russian Foreign Ministry officials on Thursday. "This was the third round of such consultations to be held between both sides this year. The Indian delegation included officials from the Ministry of External Affairs."

"Vershinin congratulated India on its upcoming Presidency of the UN Security Council in December 2022. Both sides held wide ranging discussions on issues on the UN Security Council agenda and recent developments. They agreed to deepen cooperation on counter terrorism at UN and other multilateral platforms. Secretary(West) briefed the Russian side on India’s priorities during its upcoming Presidency of the UNSC in December 2022," according to the MEA statement.