(TOI)
After a year of hostility, capped by China’s decision to block a UN ban on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar, the two countries may yet have a chance to end 2017 on a positive note in the form of a Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral dialogue next month. The 3 countries have finally zeroed in on – after 8 months of negotiations – December 11 as the likely date for the next round of RIC talks or what would be the 15th joint meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China.
The trilateral was supposed to be held in March-April this year but got delayed because China was upset, even though it never officially said so, with India’s decision to allow Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh in April. “All 3 sides seem okay with December 11 as the date for the tripartite dialogue and we hope to make a formal announcement soon,” said an official source who did not wish to be quoted. The near finalization of the date is a big relief for India as it was India’s turn to hold the talks this year and it didn’t want 2017 to end without the dialogue having taken place.
