Modi pitches idea to Putin of Russia-India-China meeting at G20 summit in Japan

The leaders of Russia, India and China should hold trilateral talks on the sidelines of the upcoming G20 Summit in Osaka, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested to Vladimir Putin.

The Russian President met with Modi at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek, on Thursday.

“I hope we’ll soon get together in Japan. I also think that we should hold talks in the RIC (Russia-India-China) format there,” the Indian PM said, adding that such trilateral meetings should also be held on other international platforms.

This year’s G20 summit is scheduled to take place in Osaka on June 28 and 29, with Japan hosting the high-profile gathering for the first time.

The RIC trilateral talks between Putin, Modi and China’s President Xi Jinping usually focus on the global economy and its financial system, Vasily Kashin, a senior research fellow at Russia’s Higher School of Economics, told RT.

With all three nations being the members of SCO, the ongoing trade war between the US and China, as well as American sanctions against Iran, could also be discussed. Both India and China are major buyers of Iranian oil. 

However, the leaders are unlikely to talk about defense and arms trade, as “Russia has wide bilateral ties with each of those countries in this area, while China and India have neither trust nor military cooperation,” Kashin pointed out, adding that only joint anti-terrorist efforts may be touched-upon.

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