Jaishankar holds talks with counterparts from Russia, South Africa & Saudi Arabia

Capetown/New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov and discussed issues of bilateral and global interests. He also held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from South Africa and Saudi Arabia during which they exchanged views on the global situation and reviewed the progress in ties.

Jaishankar, who is here to participate in a conclave of five-nation grouping BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa), held talks with Lavrov on the sidelines of the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

"Good to meet FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia in Cape Town this morning on BRICS FMM sidelines. Our discussions covered bilateral matters, BRICS, G20 and SCO," Jaishankar said in a tweet.

In another tweet, he said, “A warm meeting with FM Naledi Pandor of South Africa. Thank her for hosting us in the Indo-Atlantic city of Cape Town. Reviewed the progress of our strategic partnership and agreed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of our diplomatic ties in a fitting manner.”

The two leaders exchanged views on BRICS, IBSA (India, Brazil and South Africa), G20 and UN where the two sides have a strong tradition of cooperating closely.

The IBSA is a trilateral forum which brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, three large democracies and major economies from three different continents, facing similar challenges.

During his meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan, Jaishankar had a productive exchange of views on the global situation.

“So nice to see FM HH Prince @FaisalbinFarhan of Saudi Arabia. A productive exchange of views on the global situation. Look forward to advancing bilateral cooperation through the Strategic Partnership Council,” he tweeted.

India will hold the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and G-20 summits in July and September respectively.

In the last few months, India has become a leading importer of discounted crude oil from Russia notwithstanding increasing disquiet in the West over the procurement in view of Russian invasion of Ukraine.

India's economic engagement with Russia has been on a major upswing in the last one year, largely due to its procurement of discounted Russian oil.

India has not yet condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and it has been pushing for resolution of the conflict through dialogue and diplomacy.

On Wednesday, Jaishankar said these are still "early days" for conflict resolution between Ukraine and Russia as presently, the focus is on problems such as a grain corridor, nuclear issues and matters related to the exchange of prisoners of war.

In an interview to DD India, Jaishankar noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) brings together five of the largest developing countries of the world, representing 41 per cent of the global population, 24 per cent of the global GDP and 16 per cent of the global trade

Jaishankar is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with his other BRICS counterparts.