Wednesday, September 21 2005 10:33 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: India, Russia and China have agreed to hold a trilateral Business Conference next year to consider ways and means of strengthening and expanding cooperation in various areas among the three countries.

The proposal for the conference was presented by External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh at their annual trilateral meeting held yesterday (Sept 20, 2005) and was enthusiastically embraced by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

The ministers, who discussed a wide range of trilateral and international issues as also United Nations reforms, decided to convene their next session in New Delhi and favoured holding of Business Conference to coincide with the trilateral meeting. The dates for the meeting would be decided through mutual consultations.

Singh identified energy as a 'significant area' of cooperation among them and his Chinese and Russian counterparts welcomed the Indian initiative to convene a round table Conference of North and Central Asian oil suppliers and principal buyers in New Delhi on November 25.

Such a forum, Li and Lavrov agreed, would provide an opportunity to explore cooperation in this vital sector on both trilateral basis and in the larger region of Central and North Asia.

They said that their ministers in charge of oil and natural gas would participate in the round table, considering the importance of the discussions and exchange of ideas at the event.