Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's opening remarks during a meeting with Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of India Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, New Delhi, December 6, 2021

6 December 202110:17
2512-06-12-2021

Mr Minister,

My dear friend,

I would like to express my support for what you have just said about the quality of our relations. In his remarks at the recent expanded meeting of the Foreign Ministry Collegium, President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed the priority importance of the privileged strategic partnership with our Indian friends for our two countries.

Today, the season of active political dialogue has resumed following a pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Contacts are being revived. You and I were the trailblazers, meeting three times this year. Today is our fourth contact.

Recently, the security council secretaries of our countries held a meeting. Earlier today, there was a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation with the participation of our military colleagues. Our conversation today is to be followed by a 2+2 meeting.

This marathon of negotiations will be rounded off with a summit. I am confident that it will be a significant event in Russian-Indian relations. A package of important documents has been prepared. We will do all we can to implement the decisions to be approved by our leaders today in a precise and timely manner.

Thank you for your hospitality.