Jaishankar-Lavrov meet: Annual summit; BRICS Parliamentary Forum on agenda

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov held wide-ranging discussions in New York on a slew of issues including the annual summit later this year and global developments including the Ukraine crisis and the situation in West Asia.

“On September 25, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a one-on-one meeting with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New York on the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry readout issued after the meeting that happened days after the BRICS Summit.

The foreign ministers discussed key issues of Russian-Indian cooperation, the schedule of upcoming bilateral contacts, and current regional and global issues, including the Ukraine crisis and the situation in the Middle East, the readout informed. The next edition of the annual summit is being planned towards the end of the year in Russia. The BRICS Parliamentary forum is expected to be organised in India in October.


“They expressed intention to continue efforts to strengthen the special and privileged strategic partnership and to maintain close coordination at the UN, in the G20, BRICS, and other international venues,” according to the readout.

Following the meeting Jaishankar wrote on X,

“A good meeting with FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia today #UNGA81. Exchanged views on a number of ongoing issues. Also took stock of our bilateral and BRICS cooperation.”

The meeting on the margins of UNGA in New York assumed significance amid US threats of 100 per cent tariffs against India for purchasing Russian oil.

Jaishankar also met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the margins of the high-level UNGA session. “Appreciate the conversation with FM @araghchi of Iran at the @UN #UNGA81. We discussed the latest developments with regard to the Gulf conflict. Will continue to be in touch,” Jaishankar wrote on X.

The Hormuz Strait situation and future mechanism for the Strait were understood to be on the agenda when EAM met his counterpart from Oman.

Jaishankar’s meetings came amid a major development on Friday on reopening the Strait. Araghchi proposed a seven-day plan to open the Strait of Hormuz and restart negotiations on a longer ceasefire. But Trump reportedly rejected it.

Oman and Iran have held discussions on plans to open the strait under a system of collecting a fee for transit and having a two-lane system, with ships entering the Gulf on the Iran side of the strait and leaving on the Omani side. However, Oman is not in favour of compulsory fees for Hormuz passage.