BUENOS AIRES, December 1. /TASS/. At a meeting with the Chinese and Indian leaders Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested holding meetings in the Russia-India-China (RIC) format on a regular basis, in particular on the sidelines of large summits and international events.

At the beginning of the meeting Putin expressed gratitude to his colleagues for supporting Russia’s initiative to hold a trilateral meeting. "I’d like to note that Russia, India and China are linked by old, century-long friendly relations which we are building based on the principles of good-neighborly relations, equality of rights and mutual confidence," the Russian state leader said. Putin reiterated that last time negotiations between the state leaders in this format were held 12 years ago. "They were really productive. One of the results was the creation of the BRICS," the Russian president said.

"We believe that the RIC format has large prospects and that cooperation in this trilateral format may become effective supplementation to cooperation which our countries carry out bilaterally and in the BRICS," the Russian president said.

Putin reported that Russia suggested organizing this meeting, as the processes that are taking place in Eurasia require the close coordination of approaches by the three countries, chiefly in the sphere of providing security and building constructive interstate relations. "It is important to establish joint work on key issues of the economic agenda, including in the Group of Twenty, jointly protect the principles of just and fair competition in the world trade and finance and support the establishment of a system of international economic relations that would be as open as possible and free of protectionism and politically motivated restrictions," Putin said.

The Russian president suggested holding meeting in this format more often. "I expect our today’s conversation to be useful and that we will be able to make these meetings regular further on. In particular, they could be held on the sidelines of large summits and international events. Of course, it is important to continue trilateral coordination at other levels as well and create additional mechanisms of cooperation if need be," the Russian leader added.