World is going through extraordinary changes and uncertainty, affecting global governance: PM Modi

By Akash Rai

"There is no doubt that the world today is going through extraordinary changes and uncertainty. The increase in geopolitical tension is affecting global governance," PM Modi at the trilateral meeting with Russia and China.

While addressing the Russia-India-China meet on the sidelines of G20, the PM said, ”There is an increased responsibility on world powers like India, China and Russia to maintain multilateralism and emphasise respecting and implementing international laws."

Putting the focus on the issue of economic and climate change he added, ”WTO's Doha Development Agenda has been stalled, we haven't seen a financial commitment for developing countries from developed countries at an expected level since Paris Accords. In this way, climate justice is being weakened."

Later, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale informed media stating that the prime minister thanked Russian President Putin for initiating this effort which provides a clear and free opportunity in front of the world to discuss the upcoming uncertainties and issues. Gokhale further said that the cooperation would be based upon how the three countries, each having their own strength in the world, could contribute to global peace.

An informal meeting between these three countries took place after a gap of 12 years, Russia-India-China last held a summit in July 2006 on the sidelines of the G8 meeting in St. Petersburg. Since 2005, the countries organize separate meetings of their foreign ministers, hosted by the RIC member countries in turn.

From India’s perspective, Russia remains an important strategic partner for a number of reasons mostly because more than 70% of India's defence equipment comes from Russian origin. China is our biggest trade partner, bilateral trade reached $84.44 billion last year, a historic high notwithstanding bilateral tensions over a host of issues including the Doklam standoff.