In a first of its kind "two plus two" format, India's external Affairs Minister S.Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are expected to hold talks with their Russian counterparts in the capital Delhi on December 6.
"On December 6, Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu will meet with their Indian colleagues Dr S.Jaishankar and Rajnath Singh in New Delhi. They will discuss key regional and international matters, including in the Asia-Pacific," The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs tweeted.
The ministers are expected to discuss further strengthening of the trilateral cooperation, including exchange of views on various regional and international issues of importance, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Thursday. This marks strengthened cooperation between the countries following the meeting of National Security Advisors in Delhi this month to reach a consensus on the Afghanistan issue.
On Saturday, India will digitally chair a meeting of RIC countries including Russia, India and China. This will be the 18th round of talks between the foreign ministers under the RIC mechanism. India took over chairmanship of RIC after the last meeting of the three foreign ministers in Moscow in September last year. India is expected to hand over leadership to China for the next year.