India, China and Russia will discuss regional and international issues and ways to deepen cooperation among them during a crucial trilateral meeting in Moscow on Friday.
"The three foreign ministers would exchange views on current regional and global issues. They will also review the progress of the existing mechanisms as also to explore newer avenues of cooperation under the IRC framework," Ministry of External Affairs said here on Tuesday, adding minister S.M. Krishna will lead the Indian side for the 11th trilateral meeting.
Noting that the meet was taking place on the heels of the fourth BRICS Summit here which was attended by the three ministers, the MEA said the trilateral will, inter-alia, help reinforce the goodwill and trust among the three countries as witnessed during the New Delhi Summit.
This will be the seventh stand alone meeting of the three foreign ministers. The last two meetings were held in Wuhan, China in 2010 and Bengaluru in 2009. RIC, which was formed to forge cooperation among the three emerging economies, was overshadowed by the Brazil-Russia -India-China (BRIC) that emerged as an influential international grouping.
Besides the strategic issues, RIC focused on matters relating to disaster relief, agriculture and public health, deepening communication among academic, industrial and business circles as well as promoting multilateral cooperation and democratic international relations.
Krishna will also co-chair events later the same day which are being organised to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the erstwhile Soviet Union/Russian Federation that falls on 13 April, the ministry said.