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Russia expresses to India its serious concern over US activity in Asia-Pacific — Lavrov

Russia's top diplomat stressed that the agreement on military cooperation by Washington, Canberra and London (AUKUS) was one of the latest examples

NEW DELHI, December 6. /TASS/. At the 2+2 consultations Russia expressed serious concern to India over the United States’ activity in the Asia-Pacific Region, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the media following talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Russian-Indian 2+2 consultations by defense and foreign ministers.

"There was a useful and meaningful discussion on a variety of subjects, with the focus of attention on the situation in the Asia-Pacific Region, where elements of instability have been piling up for years and posing a threat to the universal, inclusive architecture of cooperation, which had taken shape there around the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)," Lavrov said. "We expressed our serious concern to our Indian friends over the US activity there under the slogan of so-called Indo-Pacific strategies and the creation of closed bloc-type structures."

Lavrov stressed that the agreement on military cooperation by Washington, Canberra and London (AUKUS) was one of the latest examples. In that connection, he said, quite a few questions emerged, for instance, to what extent such plans agreed with the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Australia, Britain and the United States on September 15 declared they had established a new partnership in the field of security - AUKUS. Under the agreement Australia is going to build at least eight nuclear-powered submarines using US technology and to re-equip its armed forces with US cruise missiles.