Foreign Ministers of India, Russia and China have reaffirmed their support for a transparent, open, inclusive and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system, with the World Trade Organization, WTO at its core. In a Joint Communique after the 18th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of three countries, the leaders reiterated their support for the necessary reform which would preserve the centrality, core values and fundamental principles of the WTO while taking into account the interests of all members, especially developing countries and Least Developing Countries, LDCs. They emphasized the primary importance of ensuring the restoration and preservation of the normal functioning of a two-stage WTO Dispute Settlement system, including the expeditious appointment of all Appellate Body members. They said, the post-pandemic world requires diversified global value chains that are based on resilience and reliability.
The leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in its three dimensions- economic, social and environmental in a balanced and integrated manner and reiterated that the Sustainable Development Goals are integrated and indivisible and must be achieved leaving no one behind. The Ministers condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The Ministers reaffirmed that terrorism must be comprehensively countered to achieve a world free of terrorism. They called on the international community to strengthen UN-led global counter-terrorism cooperation by fully implementing the relevant UN Security Council, UNSC resolutions and the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. In this context, they called for early adoption of the UN Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
The 18th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers India, Russia and China was held in the digital video-conference format on Friday. The meeting took place in the backdrop of negative impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing economic recovery as well as continuing threats of terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, natural and man-made disasters, food security and climate change. The Ministers exchanged views on further strengthening the Russia-India-China trilateral cooperation and also discussed various regional and international issues of importance. The Ministers recalled their last meeting in Moscow in September last year as well as the RIC Leaders’ Informal Summit in Osaka in June 2019 and noted the need for regular high-level meetings to foster closer cooperation among the RIC countries. Expressing concern over deteriorating humanitarian situation in Afghanistan, the Ministers called for immediate and unhindered humanitarian assistance to be provided to Afghanistan. The Ministers also emphasized on the central role of UN in Afghanistan.
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