External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on Saturday.
Mr. Jaishankar characterized the talks as “wide-ranging” on Twitter, saying they discussed bilateral cooperation, “exchanged views on Ukraine”, the G-20 and UN reforms. The Russian Foreign Ministry also tweeted that the meeting had occurred. The photographs tweeted by Mr. Jaishankar and the Russian side were contrasting in the mood they appeared to convey - with the Russian photo, presumably taken as the meeting was just starting, showing the ministers and several other participants smiling. Mr. Jaishankar’s photo showed the teams in the middle of discussions.
India assumes the presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) countries on December 1. Reforming the U.N. Security Council has been one of the main themes of Mr. Jaishankar’s current visit to New York. In his UNGA address after the meeting, Mr. Lavrov called India and Brazil “worthy” candidates for a permanent seat on the UNSC. The two countries, along with Japan and Germany are part of the Group of Four (G4) seeking permanent membership in the Security Council.
In terms of Ukraine, India has been distancing itself further from Russia publicly in recent times, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling Russian President Vladimir Putin last week that this was not the time for war. Mr. Jaishankar told the UN Security Council earlier this week that human rights and international law had to be maintained even during conflict.
Mr. Jaishankar and Mr. Lavrov also met as part of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) meeting on Thursday.
