India China to meet in Moscow today as part of RIC

Foreign ministers of India, Russia and China will have a luncheon meeting in Moscow today on the sidelines of SCO foreign ministers meet.

This is an important meeting as India, China and Russia are also part of Russia India China - RIC grouping which focuses on mutual cooperation between three countries keeps meeting at regular intervals.

Even though there is no confirmation on bilateral meeting of Indian and Chinese foreign ministers as yet, Chinese foreign ministry yesterday confirmed this during a press conference in Beijing. It said that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will hold bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of relevant member states.

External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar is on a two day visit to Moscow to attend the council of foreign ministers (CFM) of SCO meeting which will exchange views on regional and relevant global issues. EAM held bilateral dialogues with different member states including Russia.

All eyes are on External Affairs Minister's visit to Moscow as it comes on the heels of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who met his Chinese counterpart in Moscow last week.

Apart from the SCO forum's regional importance, this visit becomes all the more important as it will be the second in person ministerial level engagement between India and China amid the current border standoff. India, Russia and China are part of many regional groupings like SCO, RIC, BRICS and a peaceful resolution of India China border standoff will benefit the entire



region.

India has been constantly demanding to restore the status quo of April which was based on bilateral agreements but Chinese side has never replied clearly to it. This remains the central point. To break this deadlock, it is important that talks happen at the highest political level to develop strategic convergence and to come out of the state of strategic miscommunication as pointed out by experts.

SCO remains an important forum

This will be the third SCO foreign ministers meeting that India will be attending as a full member of SCO. Discussions will lay the ground for the upcoming session of the SCO Summit to be held this year where leaders will discuss political and security related matters.

Next important forum is SCO heads of government meeting which discusses trade and economy. India will host SCO Heads of Government meeting for the first time in New Delhi in November this year for which ground will be prepared in SCO trade ministers virtual meeting in October.

India is also expected to launch SCO Startup Forum during this meeting.

India wants to utilise its expertise in trade and investment, intellectual property rights, innovation and startup and other sectors to enhance cooperation with the member states.

Recently, India has participated in many virtual meetings and webinars on India's engagements with SCO including one in the field of India's traditional medicines and economic think tanks.