Russia-India-China troika could be restarted: Sergei Lavrov

Moscow: The stalled work of the Russia-India-China (RIC) troika could be restarted as the tension between New Delhi and Beijing has eased “significantly”, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday.

Speaking at the ‘Forum of the Future-2050’, the Russian foreign minister also said the resumption of joint work in RIC format could be the first step towards pan-Eurasian processes, including the formation of a multi-polar architecture.

"I really hope that we will be able to restore the work of the Russia-India-China trio. We have not met at the level of foreign ministers for the last couple of years, but we are discussing this issue with my Chinese colleague and with the Indian head of the External Affairs department,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russia’s state-run TASS news agency.

“I really hope that now that the tension has eased, in my opinion, has eased significantly on the border between India and China, and the situation is stabilising, there is a dialogue between New Delhi and Beijing, we will be able to resume the work of this Russia-India-China trio," he added.

Following the deadly Galwan Valley standoff between the militaries of India and China in 2020, the RIC troika has not been very active.

Lavrov said that Russia and China can and should play a leading and proactive role in the pan-continental process, including in the formation of a multi-polar architecture, and added that the restoration of the RIC format could act as the first step towards this.

“This will also be a very important step forward in the movement of continental processes,” he added.

The two-day forum inspired by Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin, often dubbed as President Vladimir Putin’s ‘guru’, has attracted young participants.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s father Erol Musk is also attending the forum.