Amid severe tensions at the borders with China, India on Thursday, 18 June confirmed that it will participate in the Russia-India-China (RIC) Trilateral Meet scheduled for 23 June.
The meet will be attended by foreign ministers of the three nations.
The confirmation comes even as relations with China remain strained following the killing of 20 Indian soldiers at the Galwan Valley in Ladakh on Monday, 15 June.
However, Moscow, under whose presidency the meet will be held, has ruled out any bilateral matter being discussed as part of the format, The Economic Times reported.
“The RIC agenda does not involve discussing issues that relate to bilateral relations of a country with another member of this format,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by ET telling reporters in Moscow on Wednesday.
The statement is an indication that Russia will not be looking at any kind of mediation in the ongoing border dispute between India and China.
(Catch all live updates on the India-China Tensions here.
“Certainly, we are watching with great attention what is happening on the Chinese-Indian border. We believe that this is a very alarming report,” Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday, as quoted by ET. “But we consider that the two countries are capable of taking necessary steps to prevent such situations in the future and to ensure that there is predictability and stability in the region and that this is a safe region for nations, first of all, China and India," he added.
Meanwhile, relations between India and China remain strained as the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday reiterated blame on India for the Galwan valley clash, saying that Indian front-line troops blatantly broke the consensus reached by the military chiefs.
The same was earlier tweeted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying.
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