Sergey Lavrov meets S Jaishankar, hails India-Russia ties

|HT|

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov who is on a two-day visit to India held bilateral talks with India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday. "Our meeting today takes place in a difficult international environment," said Jaishankar in a meeting, which is the first since Russia launched a full-blown invasion in its neighbouring country Ukraine.

"We have diversified our cooperation by expanding our agenda," Jaishankar also said. He also said that India has "always been in favour of resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and diplomacy."

Meanwhile, Lavrov praised India for taking a neutral stance over the war and said, "India is taking this situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way." He also hailed the ties between India and Russia, saying, “our relations were very sustainable during many difficult times in the past."

The meeting between the leaders comes as the west is seeking to isolate Russia and has been mounting pressure on India to condemn the aggressive invasion of its eastern European country. India, which shares decades-old diplomatic relations with Moscow, meanwhile, has maintained a neutral stance and has been refraining from condemning it on a public platform. The invasion, described as a "special military operation" by Russia in Ukraine, was launched on February 24. Since then it has been rapidly making advancements with forces now encircling the capital city of Kyiv.

Before coming to India, Lavrov also visited China and met their foreign minister Wang Yi.

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