Russian FM meets Tharoor, highlights restoring work of RIC troika

Moscow: Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor, currently on a tour of Russia, met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the prestigious Primakov Readings, an annual meeting of experts in the field of international relations and world economy.

“Good to catch up with old friend Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Primakov Readings in Moscow,” Tharoor posted on X on Wednesday along with photographs of him with the Russian minister.

Addressing the gathering on Tuesday, Lavrov had highlighted the importance and potential of the special privileged strategic partnership with India and the role played by noted scientist and statesman Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov.

“Here, the legacy of E.M. Primakov is also well known. It was he who many years ago came up with the initiative to form such a non-bureaucratic “troika” – RIC (Russia, India and China). Since then, it has met regularly over the past few years. Now we are on a break. First, the pandemic intervened, and then the escalation on the border between India and China served as a “brake”. Now, given the reports that these escalations are easing, we expect that the work of RIC will be restored,” Lavrov told a solid group of participants which included prominent politicians, scientists, experts, and public figures from many countries around the world.

Meanwhile, a video clip of a meeting Tharoor – who is also the head of Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs – held with his Russian counterpart Leonid Slutsky on Tuesday in Moscow has also gone viral on social media.

In the video, Slutsky, who leads the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia and the Duma Committee on International Affairs, is seen mentioning plans to host the seventh edition of a conference on anti-terrorism next year which would also see participation of Turkey, Iran, India, Pakistan and China.

Tharoor, who recently led an Indian all-party delegation to the United States and several other countries as part of the Operation Sindhoor outreach initiative post April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, is quick to point out that Islamabad has for decades pursued cross-border terrorism into India with impunity.

“Chairman, there is a country that unfortunately provides safe haven for these terrorist groups. They have their headquarters there and train terrorists in their country. They fund them, arm them, and send them to other countries. So, it is hard for us to ignore the fact that they do have patronage in Pakistan,” Tharoor said.

The two lawmakers also exchanged opinions on the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Gaza, the Ukraine conflict, and the recent military escalation between India and Pakistan.

Other issues on the agenda included regional security issues in Asia and inter-parliamentary cooperation within the BRICS framework, Russia’s RT reported.

IANS