India to raise issue of Hafiz Saeed, LeT with China and Russia
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NEW DELHI - India will explore the possibility of greater cooperation in the Asia Pacific region with China and Russia, in an attempt to allay Beijing’s apprehensions over a proposed axis New Delhi is seeking with the US, Japan and Australia.
The foreign ministers of India, Russia and China will meet at a day-long session in New Delhi on December 11.
India is likely to push for naming Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e- Mohammed (JeM) in the joint communique to be adopted at the meeting.
Experts familiar with the developments said India would raise a number of contentious issues such as India’s bid for entry to the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and Beijing scuttling New Delhi’s move to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar as a terror mastermind.
India is also set to raise the issue of Jamaat- ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest by Pakistan.
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov will discuss key strategic issues at the meeting.
On South China Sea, India is expected to pitch for countries respecting all provisions of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and ensuring freedom of navigation in the resource-rich waters. There will be enough diplomatic jostling before the countries agree for a structured discussion on Asia Pacific.
