Associated Press

New Delhi, May 30:

The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China will meet later this week for talks aimed at strengthening their cooperation on security and other issues. The meeting between India’s External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and their Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing in the far-eastern Russian port city of Vladivostok, scheduled for June 2, will be their first three-way summit. Foreign ministers of the three countries have held talks earlier, but those meetings were on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly or other international conferences. The threesome last met in November last year on the margins of an Asian security conference in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Singh will leave for Russia on Tuesday, India’s external affairs ministry spokesman said. “The discussions at Vladivostok will focus on issues of mutual interest and regional and international security,” Navtej Sarna said. The three-way consultations between the Asian powers were first proposed by Russia in 2002, and past meetings have focussed on issues such as global terrorism, drug trafficking and energy security. During a recent visit to India, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China, India and Russia could use their influence to safeguard global peace, security and stability. “Communications and the cooperation between China, India and Russia are not alignment or targeted at any country,” Wen had said.