Spotlight: China-Russia-India meeting to push forward regional development

The 14th Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China, concluded here on Monday, with broad consensus on practical cooperation to push forward regional development.

The three sides agreed to enhance political consultation and deepen cooperation in national defense and security, economy and finance, regional connectivity and communication, as well as people-to-people exchanges.

Established in 2002, the tripartite mechanism has promoted political trust and strengthened contacts among the countries through annual discussions on various issues that affect, directly or indirectly, regional stability and development.

During this year's meeting, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made 12 development proposals on political, security, economic and cultural issues.

Wang urged to hold the first round of three-party consultations on Asia-Pacific affairs by yearend, mainly focusing on issues like cyber security, drug trafficking, and nontraditional security threats like terrorism, piracy, maritime search and rescue.

On economic cooperation, China called for a better play of complementary advantages of the three sides, while in particular mentioned cooperation in infrastructure construction to facilitate regional integration.

Besides economic links, people-to-people and cultural exchanges should also be an important part of the tripartite cooperation, which could be carried out at all levels with various professions, Wang said.

"Most of the possibilities for practical trilateral interaction lay in the sphere of fighting terrorism," said Vasily Mikheyev, deputy director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Other Russian experts believed political and security issues in the Asia-Pacific region are top concerns of the three countries.

"It is here that our three countries have a very solid foundation for both coordination and cooperation," said deputy director of Russia's APEC Study Center Gleb Ivashentsov.

The three parties agreed to uphold the principles of mutual understanding and trust, and facilitate the political solutions to regional issues, particularly the crises in Syria and Ukraine, as well as the peace process in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

The trilateral meeting mechanism has been underpinned by the common pursuit of cooperation among the three emerging economies and the many common interests of the three countries in international affairs.

The foreign ministers also held bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the trilateral meeting to discuss issues of common interest.

"We are meeting after a long gap and I think we should meet quite frequently. Because things are moving very fast in the world and if we meet frequently, we will be able to deliberate on those," Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in her opening remarks during a bilateral meeting with Wang.

Speaking on the trilateral cooperation among Beijing, Moscow and New Delhi, Wang said this is an open mechanism, does not target any third party and has no intention to ally to confront others.

As three of the world's most influential emerging economies, China, Russia and India could also use the mechanism to supplement regional and international organizations.

"The trilateral cooperation mechanism will contribute to the development of any organization which the three countries participate in," Mikheyev said.

The trilateral mechanism will continue to play a positive and constructive role in improving global stability and regional development, and to promote democracy of international relations, Wang said.

The foreign ministers of the three countries also held bilateral meetings on the sidelines to discuss issues of common concern. Endi