India, Russia and China decide to combat terrorism

Vladivostok, June. 2 : Seeking to upgrade their cooperation to a qualitatively new level, India, Russia and China today decided to cooperate to combat terrorism and other new threats and agreed on the "objective requirement" for comprehensive UN reforms covering expansion of the Security Council.

At the over two-hour tripartite meeting of External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, with his counterparts from Russia, Sergei Lavrov and Li Zhaoxing from China, they agreed to intensify efforts to step up economic cooperation in the trilateral format particularly in the fields of transport, agriculture, energy and high technologies.

A two-page joint communique issued at the end of the talks said the Ministers expressed satisfaction at the "dynamic development" of bilateral relations between India and Russia, Russia and China and India and China.

"This opens up possibilities for India, Russia and China to raise their trilateral cooperation to a qualitatively new level," it said.

The three Ministers "declared the intention of India, Russia and China to cooperate in trilateral format in combating new threats and challenges," the communique said.

They stressed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and irrespective of its origins and motivations posed one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

The three sides agreed that the scourge of terrorism should be combated in a "consistent, sustained and comprehensive manner without any double standards."

They underscored the need for coordinated action between the law enforcement authorities of the three countries to act against illegal drug trafficking and other manifestations of trans-border crimes.

Addressing a joint press conference, Singh said it was decided that India would host the first trilateral business meeting in New Delhi early next year.

Experts and officials from the three countries would meet to examine concrete possibilities in transport, agriculture, energy, high technologies and other sectors and make specific recommendations. The Ministers stressed on the important role of direct business to business contacts.

The communique said the three countries shared a common approach to key global developments in the 21st century and favoured democratization of international relations aimed at building a just world order based on the observance of international law, equity, mutual respect, cooperation and progress towards multi-polarity.

They underlined that UN, as the most universal international organization, should play the central role in realizing this goal.

They "agreed on the objective requirement for comprehensive reforms of UN, including of Security Council, so that the organization becomes more reflective of contemporary global realities and more effective in discharging its functions."



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