Thursday, September 21 2006 16:07 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: India, Russia, China and Brazil who discussed a range of issues, including the situation in middle east, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session here have decided that the group would meet from time to time for coordinating positions on various issues.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, leading the Indian delegation to the United Nations, participated in the high-level discussions convened by Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov yesterday.

Chinese Foreign Li Zhaoxing and his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim represented their countries.

The representatives also discussed the major economic issues, including logjam in the negotiations in the World Trade Organization, and steps needed to get them moving again, officials said.

Among other issues that came up were energy conservation and extended use of renewable sources of energy.

Shortly after his arrival here on Tuesday to attend the annual General Assembly session, Mukherjee had the occasion of interacting with President George Bush and other world leaders at a reception organized by the American President.

He had brief discussions with several leaders on the issues coming up during the current session of UN General Assembly.

Mukherjee also had wide-ranging discussions with the NATO Secretary General Jaap de hoop Scheffer on Tuesday with a special focus on regional security.