Moscow: Russia and China have agreed to closely cooperate with India in the trilateral format for resolving key international issues.

It was decided during high-level interactions between visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and the Russian leadership, official sources said in Moscow.

Li, who is on a three-day visit to Russia, called on President Vladimir Putin yesterday (Apr 21, 2004) at his country residence near Moscow and also held detailed talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Welcoming Li, Putin noted, "The treaty on strategic partnership is working fully well, and our bilateral trade grew 25 per cent last year."

"It is generally admitted that our business relations with China are developing fairly well, and we're having regular contacts at the top level," Putin said.

"We'll have several meetings this year, and I hope we'll discuss the entire list of our bilateral efforts," he said referring to his forthcoming contacts with Chinese President Hu Jintao at Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tashkent in June, Asian Pacific Economic Summit in Chile and at Sino-Russian Beijing Summit in October.

With the expansion of Western military alliance NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) into former Soviet boundaries in the Baltic region and overlapping expansion of European Union, Russia is focusing on developing its military and economic ties with China and seeking a more close cooperation within Indo-Russia-China triangle, officials said.

Simultaneously with Li's Moscow visit, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov is holding high-profile military talks with Chinese leadership in Beijing.