Russian, Indian foreign ministers to discuss Syria in Moscow Wednesday

The situation in Syria and other countries of the region and cooperation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the BRICS group will be on the agenda of the Moscow meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid on October 2, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich reported,according to Voice of Russia, Interfax.

“Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will negotiate with Salman Khurshid on October 2. In addition, the Indian minister will attend the 19th session of the Russian-Indian Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation as a commission cochairman. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin is the Russian cochairman of the commission,” says Lukashevich’s interview posted on the ministry website on Tuesday.

“The ministerial meeting will focus on the implementation of the agreements reached during an official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India in December 2012, the arrangement of the upcoming top-level contacts and a ministerial meeting of the RIC group (Russia, India and China) and topical bilateral and international issues. An emphasis will be put on the situation in Syria, the Middle East and North Africa and the interaction in the UN and within the BRICS and SCO formats,” the diplomat said.

Lukashevich pointed to positive dynamics in Russian-Indian trade and economic relations.

“Bilateral trade turnover has grown six times since 2000. Positive dynamics were maintained even in the midst of the global financial and economic crisis. Trade reached a record level of $11 billion in 2012 as compared with $8.9 billion in 2011. The growth stood at 24.5%,” he said.

Trade turnover may surpass last year’s levels in 2013, Lukashevich said, citing tentative estimates.

Speaking about the upcoming meeting of the intergovernmental commission, the diplomat said it would map out primary bilateral projects.

“Primary objectives include the promotion of economic contacts through investment projects and joint ventures and the fulfillment of the agreements on innovative and high-tech industries [bio-medical, nano, information and telecommunication technologies and so on]. Economic modernization plays a special role,” he said.

The diplomat also noted the sustainable development of military technological cooperation between Russia and India.

M.D