S Jaishankar meets Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in Indonesia

Jakarta: On the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

The discussions encompassed a range of topics, including bilateral and multilateral cooperation, G20 issues, and the East Asia Summit.

Minister Jaishankar shared the details of the meeting on social media platform X, stating, "Good to meet FM Sergey Lavrov of Russia in Jakarta on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit. Useful stocktaking of our bilateral and multilateral cooperation. Discussed East Asia Summit and G20 issues."

This meeting follows a previous encounter between the two leaders during the BRICS summit in Johannesburg at the end of August, where they engaged in discussions on recent global developments.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be representing Russian President Vladimir Putin at the upcoming G20 summit hosted by India in New Delhi on September 9 and 10. President Putin had expressed his inability to attend the summit in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi the previous month.

During his visit to Jakarta for ASEAN Summit-related meetings, Minister Jaishankar also met with his Indonesian counterpart, Retno Marsudi, to discuss matters pertaining to the East Asia Summit and the G20 Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to participate in the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit, hosted by Indonesia in its capacity as the current Chair of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations).