Russia has said it continues to support India’s entry into the exclusive Nuclear Suppliers’ Group even as it has assured it will raise the issue with China during the upcoming 15th RIC (Russia, India, China) foreign ministerial meeting.

The RIC meet will be held on December 11 here that will see participation from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and China’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi.

“We have discussed India’s energy perspective. Russia is a firm proponent of India’s entry into such platforms (like NSG, Wassenaar Arrangement). We would want India to be part of all these. We know the difficulties of India’s application (at the NSG). Russia has always undertaken a particular effort in India’s NSG membership. We are talking to everyone,” said Sergey Ryabkov, Deputy Foreign Minister, Russia after holding Foreign Office consultations with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar here on Wednesday. Ryabkov also said the upcoming RIC will also seek to push economic and infrastructure perspective to the grouping apart from purely strategic one.

Meanwhile, sources said, during the RIC meet, China might seek India’s participation in the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Border issue

Both sides are also expected to discuss the contentious border issue as this will be the first such visit by the Chinese Foreign Minister post the 73-day long Dokalam stand-off at the India-China-Bhutan trilateral junction. “The meeting is expected to review global and regional issues of mutual interest as well as discuss trilateral exchanges and activities. A joint communiqué is expected to be released following the meeting,” stated a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

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