‘Seeing consequences of Ukraine war’: Jaishankar holds talks with Russian counterpart in Moscow

Moscow, Nov 08: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov held a bilateral talk in Moscow, focussing on regional and global issues of mutual interests amid the ongoing Ukraine war.

"I believe this is the 5th time, we are meeting this year and that speaks of long-term partnership and the importance we attach to each other. I am really glad to be here in Moscow today to carry forward this dialogue," Jaishankar was quoted as saying by ANI.

"We have substantial and time-tested relations with Russia. We have been trying to find ways to expand this relationship and make it more durable. We discussed areas where there are natural interests between both countries," S Jaishankar said.

"India and Russia have grappled with how to expand our bilateral trade. We are naturally concerned about trade imbalance and have raised this with Russian side regarding how to arrest impediments that stand in the way of Indian exports," he said.

"It is important that the world should not forget the situation in Afghanistan because today it's not getting the attention that it deserves. There is a humanitarian situation. India has provided food, medicines, vaccines and we are trying to find ways to support Afghan people," Jaishankar said.

"We are now seeing the consequences of the Ukraine conflict. There are also the more perennial issues of terrorism and climate change, both of which have a disruptive impact on progress and prosperity," he added.

"As PM conveyed to Russian pres Putin this is not an era of war. Global economy is simply too interdependent for significant conflict anywhere not to have major consequences elsewhere," Jaishankar added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assured to coordinate with India in actions at international organisations.

"We coordinate our actions in international organisations such as UNSC where India is now a non-permanent member. All this is enriching our agenda and I am confident that today we are going to have a good conversation about all this," said Russian FM Sergey Lavrov.

"With the changes the international community is going through, it's important to compare our notes, our assessments integrally on how we are going to work on the goals set by the Russian President and the PM of India on the economy, trade, investments, tech sphere," he added.