Maintaining that the India-China-Russia trilateral cooperation is not against the “interest of any other country”, foreign ministers of the three countries —Pranab Mukherjee, Li Zhaoxing and Sergei Lavrov —have decided to deal firmly with terrorism besides improving economic ties. A joint communiqué issued after the summit said: “The trilateral cooperation was not directed against the interests of any other country and was, on the contrary, intended to promote international harmony and understanding and find common ground amidst divergent interests.” The ministers also emphasised the strong commitment of India, Russia and China to multilateral diplomacy while stressing the “democratisation of international relations”, which the ministers felt was the “key to building an increasingly multi-polar world order based on principles of equality of nations”. Affirming that international terrorism is a grave threat, the foreign ministers said that “collective action” must be strengthened by taking into account the “mutating character of terrorism and its networks.” “They (India, China, Russia) agreed that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed,” the communiqué said The ministers agreed that an early entry into force of International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism and the earliest possible adoption in the UN of the India-sponsored draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism would lead to further consolidation of the international legal basis for combating terrorism, the communiqué said. The three countries underlined the substantial potential of their counter-terrorism cooperation in regional organisations. “They agreed that there can be no justification for any act of terrorism, irrespective of motivations, wherever and by whosoever committed”, the communiqué said. The ministers said that the trilateral cooperation had considerable potential for mutually beneficial economic interaction in areas such as energy, transport infrastructure, health and high technologies. They also discussed the political, security and economic aspects of the current global situation, besides exchanging views on how international relations are being presently conducted. Recognising the three countries as consistently growing and large economies, the Ministers agreed to set up a trilateral business forum. This forum will advice “their respective apex business bodies to organise a trilateral business forum taking into account the capabilities and potential of the three countries”.
