Sino-Indian efforts showing results: Russian foreign minister after RIC

New Delhi:Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday said that efforts by India and China to reduce tension along LAC are showing results. The comment, in response to a query by ET, came after a crucial Russia-India-China (RIC) foreign ministers’ virtual meet at which India’s S Jaishankar said “leading voices of the world must be exemplars in every way, respecting international law, recognising the legitimate interests of partners…”

“New Delhi and Peking (Beijing) have taken enough measures to bring down the tensions, and it is already working. Both the ministers have spoken. Moreover, India and China have signed (recent past) an agreement on strategic partnership. In the framework of RIC, SCO, BRICS, these platforms are playing key roles to sort out any issue among the member countries,” Lavrov told ET in response to a query at a press meet on the role of groupings like RIC as confidence building measures amid tensions between the two neighbours.

“We do not have any intention to interfere in the matters of India and China, as they themselves are capable of sorting out among themselves, without any third-party…I don't see any reason for a third-party intervention to solve the current issue,” Lavrov said, backing India’s principled stand against any outside intervention to address bilateral differences.


Russia, however, has emerged as the key diplomatic player amid the Sino-Indian standoff and has activated backchannel communication to defuse tensions, according to people in the know.

Earlier, in his opening remarks at the RIC, Jaishankar had a subtle but important message for his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

“The challenge today is not just one of concepts and norms, but equally of their practice. The leading voices of the world must be exemplars in every way. Respecting international law, recognising the legitimate interests of partners, supporting multilateralism and promoting common good are the only ways of building a durable world order,” he said.

At the press meet, Lavrov strongly backed India’s aspiration to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council in the context of reformed multilateral order.