India, China, Russia say trilateral meet not targeted at any country

“The trilateral cooperation is not targeted against any other country or organisation and is intended to promote international harmony and mutual understanding and seeks to broaden common ground amidst divergent interests,” Foreign Ministers of the three countries said in a joint communique at the end of their third standalone meeting in this city of northeast China, in an apparent message to the US and others.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and their Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov exchanged views on the international situation and reaffirmed that they would abide by the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and other accepted principles of international law.

“They further emphasised that they would continue to promote democratisation of international relations and evolution of a more just and rational international order,” the communique said.

Mukherjee, Yang and Lavrov emphasised that multilateralism and collective action should be promoted in addressing urgent issues and meeting new challenges and threats.

They underlined the role of the United Nations and the need to strengthen the role of the world body to meet the various problems and challenges facing the international community more effectively. They also called for reform of the UN.

They said the three countries attached importance to the issue of climate change and reiterated the principles and provisions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, including the principle of “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities”.

The three Foreign Ministers strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. “No act of terrorism can be compartmentalised, and there can be no justification for terrorism on any ground,” they said in their joint communique.

Mukherjee, Yang and Lavrov had in-depth discussions on the Asian regional situation and they believed that peace, development and cooperation are the mainstream in the evolution of the Asian situation.

Mukherjee opposed imposing sanctions on Myanmar and called for encouraging all stakeholders to advance political reforms and national reconciliation, a move supported by China and Russia.

“We believe that the initiative taken by the UN...