India Confirms Participation in Trilateral Talks With Russia, China on June 23, Says MEA

New Delhi, June 18: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday said that it would be participating in RIC (Russia-India-China) foreign ministers meeting on June 23. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar will represent India in the meeting. Speculations were rife that India would pull out the from the trilateral talks after the violent clashes which erupted in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley between Indian and Chinese troops on the intervening night of June 15 and 16.

The trilateral talks were earlier scheduled to take place in March but were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting is now scheduled to take place in Moscow on June 23. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that bilateral topics would not be discussed at the meeting. He added that the agenda of the talks have already been set. 'No Indian Troops Missing': Army Clarifies After NYT Reports 'Capture' of India's Soldiers by China During Galwan Valley Face-Off.

MEA's Statement:

It is expected that the three countries would focus on enhancing cooperation to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Later this year, Russia is also set to host SCO and BRICS summits. The talks will take place via video conferencing.

Russia, currently, enjoys a very good relation with Indian and China. However, India’s relation with China hit rock bottom after the violent clashes in Galwan Valley earlier this week. India lost 20 soldiers, including a commanding officer of 16 Bihar regiment, in the violent face-off. However, China did not reveal the number of casualties, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) suffered during the clashes. Indian media reports claimed that 45 Chinese troops were killed or severely injured the face-off.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 18, 2020 06:34 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).