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Sushma Swaraj meets BRICS, holds trilateral with US and Japan

By FnF Desk | PUBLISHED: 30, Sep 2015, 14:07 pm IST | UPDATED: 30, Sep 2015, 14:07 pm IST

Sushma Swaraj meets BRICS, holds trilateral with US and Japan NY: The minister for external affairs, Sushma Swaraj, on her first day in the US had a packed schedule on Tuesday. She met foreign ministers of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), participated in a trilateral meeting with the US and Japan, met the Philip Hammond, secretary of state for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from the United Kingdom. South Africa was not present as the minister had to fly out.

At the BRICS meeting, the ministers expressed their support for a successful outcome at the COP21 in Paris later this year.

"They valled for a comprehensive, balanced and equitable agreement with legal force for the post 2020 period that is conformity with the principals and provisions of UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) to be attained in an open, transparent and inclusive negotiating process," said a press release from the ministry.

India will be the chair country from BRICS in February 2016. "The ministers discussed what are the emergent needs and see how far things have progressed since they last summit meeting in Russia," said spokesperson to the ministry Vikas Swarup.

"For us it is very significant as India is going to be the next chair of BRICS commencing February 2016. So it is important meeting the point of view for the external minister to hear the views of other foreign minister on how they see Brics evolving, what are the emergent needs and what more needs to be done," he added.

The BRICS ministers reiterated the need for the comprehensive reforms of the UN, including its security council to make it more representative and efficient.

Soon after, the Swaraj met with UK's foreign secretary Hammold. It was a very short meeting, Swarup said. "There was some discussion on UK's participation in our smart cities program and on Indian investments in the UK and UK investments in India," he said.

After this, secretary of state United States John Kerry held the inaugural US-India-Japan trilateral ministerial dialogue on Tuesday on the sidelines of the UN general assembly.

Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Japanese foreign minister Fumio Kishida participated in the meeting. Together, these three countries represent a quarter of the world's population and economic production power. Some of the issues that were discussed were maritime security, freedom of navigation and overflight.

The three countries agreed to work together to maintain maritime security through greater collaboration.

"Recognizing the three countries extensive disaster response capabilities and converging interests, the three sides agreed to convene experts-level group on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to enhance ability to respond jointly to complex disasters," said a press release from the ministry.

Swaraj, on Wednesday, will meet ministers from Caricom, Maldives, Syria, Saarc countries, Sri Lanka and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
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