China, India, Russia pledge cooperation on regional disputes

INDIA: The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China Wednesday pledged to avoid confrontation and work together to solve disputes on issues ranging from energy to insurgencies after talks here.

The three foreign ministers exchanged “views on how international relations are being presently conducted,” according to a joint statement.

“They agreed that cooperation rather than confrontation should govern approaches to regional and global affairs,” it said.

The three ministers also called for strengthening the United Nations to promote the “democratisation of international relations” to build a multi-polar world, the statement said.

The pledge came a day after diplomats from six countries, including Russia and China, managed to persuade North Korea to shut down key nuclear facilities within two months in return for badly needed fuel.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he welcomed the “success” achieved with North Korea during talks in Beijing and added that he and his counterparts, India’s Pranab Mukherjee and China’s Li Zhaoxing, had also exchanged views on crises in Iraq and Iran.

All three agreed that international terrorism, which continued to pose a grave threat, should be combated “under central and coordinating role of the UN,” the statement said.

“The statement is drawing attention to the importance of keeping the United Nations at the centre of conflict resolution,” said C. Uday Bhaskar, an analyst with the New Delhi-based Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses.

He noted several instances of how the UN had been bypassed — during the Iraq war and even in the process of resolving the North Korean crisis.

Though India, China and Russia were urging the restoration of credibility to the UN, the success of their plans will however depend on getting the United States on board, Bhaskar said.

The tri-lateral talks in New Delhi — which is working on improving ties with Washington and is negotiating a crucial civilian nuclear energy deal with the US — is the sixth such meeting.

The joint statement said the grouping was not aimed against “the interests of any other country” and “intended to promote international harmony” and “find common ground amidst divergent interests.”

New Delhi, Thursday, AFP