New Delhi, May 25 (Bureau) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday met Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov and said the two sides are looking to take the IRIGC-TEC, the apex G2G forum for bilateral economic cooperation, to a higher level. In a tweet, EAM said the two also discussed the upcoming BRICS Foreign Ministers Meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, on June 1. “Pleasure to meet Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov today evening. “Discussed our bilateral cooperation, including in the IRIGC-TEC (India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation) framework. Looking forward to taking that to a higher level. “Also spoke about the forthcoming BRICS Foreign Ministers’ meeting in South Africa.”
The meeting between the two sides comes days after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to India to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on May 4-5 in Goa. EAM Jaishankar and FM Lavrov had also held bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO Meeting. India-Russia trade has witnessed a marked spike. At the end of 2022, bilateral trade reached a record high of $35.3 billion, which is 2.5 times more than in 2021.