India Not On Board Yet With Russia-China Push To Revive RIC Trilateral Talks: Sources

Amid efforts by China and Russia to revive the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral dialogue, Indian government sources have confirmed that no such meeting has been scheduled or agreed upon by New Delhi at this time.

“There is no meeting agreed to under the RIC format as of now, and there are no ongoing discussions regarding its scheduling,” a source familiar with the matter stated.

During the Ministry of External Affairs’ weekly press briefing, spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal refrained from confirming any imminent revival of the RIC mechanism. “This is a forum where the three countries engage to discuss regional and global matters. When such a meeting is decided, we will coordinate a mutually convenient date and make the announcement,” he said.

The RIC platform was originally envisioned as a Eurasian counterbalance to Western geopolitical influence. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently called for resuming the RIC format, which has seen over 20 ministerial-level meetings since its inception by former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

“I want to reaffirm our interest in resuming the troika’s work at the earliest. This format includes not only foreign ministers but also heads of trade, economic, and financial agencies from all three nations,” Lavrov said in June.

China has echoed Russia’s call for revival, stating that trilateral cooperation among the three countries serves broader regional and global stability. On Thursday, Russian news outlet Izvestia quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying that Moscow is actively discussing the format with both Beijing and New Delhi.

“This is a topic we bring up in our conversations with both countries. Given that these three nations are BRICS founding members and strategic partners, the absence of the RIC format seems inappropriate,” Rudenko said. “We are hopeful that conditions will soon allow the three countries to resume collaboration in this framework.”

The RIC dialogue had stalled initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later due to heightened tensions following the India-China military standoff in Eastern Ladakh in 2020.

Complicating matters is India’s active participation in the Quad — a strategic alliance with the United States, Japan, and Australia — which China views as a counterweight to its influence. This geopolitical context has further fueled China and Russia’s interest in reviving the RIC initiative.

News Source : Information for this article was gathered from a variety of reliable news outlets.