Indian, Russian, Chinese foreign ministers' meeting in Delhi

Feb 14, 2007, 6:55 GMT

New Delhi - The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China were scheduled to hold a meeting in New Delhi Wednesday at a trilateral forum aimed at boosting cooperation on global and economic issues.

Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Russia's Sergei Lavrov and China's Li Zhaoxing will lead their respective delegations, India's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said Tuesday.

The issues of terrorism, drug trafficking, Afghanistan and Iran's nuclear programme are likely to figure in the discussions, diplomatic sources said.

Economic cooperation, specially in the energy sector, is also on the agenda of the meeting.

This will be the second such meeting since the one held in Vladivostok in 2005, Sarna said. Two informal meetings have taken place on the sidelines of international gatherings since then.

The meeting comes less than a month after Russian President Vladmir Putin's summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the Indian capital.

The two leaders had then expressed interest in enhancing cooperation under the trilateral forum.

Putin said the forum was significant as it brought together three influential nations to address regional and international issues.