Russia, China to partner India against terrorism

Close on the heels of the suicide attack at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China joined India and Russia to seek greater cooperation to combat terrorism, particularly to pre-empt proliferation of the menace in the region after withdrawal of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Counter-terrorism cooperation emerged as a major point of congruence between Russia, India and China, as foreign ministers of these countries met in New Delhi on Sunday.

External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid met his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Wang Yi, respectively, for the twelfth round of the RIC (Russia-India-China) trilateral meeting.

Separate meets

Khurshid also had separate bilateral meetings with Lavrov and Wang to discuss ways to implement whatever had been agreed upon during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Russia and China last month.

The three foreign ministers discussed several international issues, including the evolving situation in Egypt, Syria and Afghanistan.

“We had a very productive discussion on the issue of counter-terrorism. We do want to look together at countering drug trade that is as greater a menace as terrorism. They are in fact intrinsically linked in many ways, as drugs are used to finance terrorism,” said Khurshid along with Lavrov and Wang after the trilateral meeting.

China is understood to have of late renewed its focus on terrorism after the October 28 blasts in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, which killed two tourists apart from three suspected suicide bombers.