NEW DELHI, March 3. /TASS/. A meeting in the Russia-India-China format at the ministerial level may take place in 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday at the international geopolitics and geoeconomics conference Raisina Dialogue.
"The Russia-India-China troika continues to function. We met last year, and we intend to hold a ministerial meeting this year," he said.
According to Lavrov, the three countries' economic, trade and technology experts and think tank representatives also meet regularly. "They were supposed to meet this spring, but our Indian colleagues asked for a postponement. However, I am convinced that the more they meet, the better," he added.
When speaking about Moscow's relations with Beijing and New Delhi, the top diplomat pointed out that it was not inherent in Russia to be friends against anyone. He stressed that Russia has "excellent relations" with both China and India. "Relations with India are described in official documents as a particularly privileged strategic partnership. I do not know whether other countries have the same status of relations officially on paper with our Indian partners, but this, we are convinced, reflects reality: economic, scientific, technical, military, cultural and humanitarian cooperation," Lavrov added.
The Russian top diplomat also noted that relations with China have never been at such a high level in history. "We are interested in friendship with these two great nations, and we try to be useful and contribute to it," he concluded.