This Article is From Dec 06, 2017

India Likely To Name Pak-Based Terror Groups At Russia-India-China Meet

The release of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest is also expected to come up at the meet.

India Likely To Name Pak-Based Terror Groups At Russia-India-China Meet

Release of Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed is also expected to come up at the meet.

New Delhi: Pakistan-based terror groups are likely to find a mention in the communique to be adopted at the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral meeting on Monday, a news report said.

New Delhi plans to push for naming Pakistan-based terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed citing a similar move by the BRICS grouping in September, news agency PTI said.

At the RIC foreign ministers' meeting in New Delhi, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is also expected to raise a number of contentious issues involving China, including its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), opposition to India's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group, South China Sea tension and Beijing's stonewalling of the move to declare Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN. 

Some of these contentious issues are likely to be discussed during Ms Swaraj's bilateral meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. It will be the first high-level visit from China to India after the Dokalam standoff.

Ms Swaraj and Mr Wang will be joined by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday. The leaders will discuss ways on finding a common ground on key strategic issues of the region.

The release of Mumbai attack mastermind and Jamaat-ud-Dawah (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest is also expected to come up at the meet, PTI reported.

In September, BRICS summit had, for the first time, named Pakistan-based LeT, JeM and the Haqqani network in its declaration. The move was seen as a major diplomatic victory for India.

India is also expected to renew its call on South China Sea and urge all parties to respecting all provisions of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and ensuring freedom of navigation in
the resource-rich waters.

Relations between India and China witnessed a downturn owing to differences over a series of issues including China blocking India's move to get Masood Azhar banned by the UN, its opposition to India's bid for NSG membership and Belt and Road initiative.

(with additional inputs from PTI)
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