EAM Jaishankar meets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Cape Town

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the BRICS Ministerial in Cape Town, South Africa, on Thursday.

The meeting comes when the West is constantly trying to make India pick sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Earlier on May 21, PM Modi met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima and assured him that he would resolve the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv. This was the first meeting between the two leaders since the Russia-Ukraine conflict that began on February 24 last year.

External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar is on an official visit to African countries, including South Africa and Namibia, from June 1 to June 6, 2023.

The EAM is visiting South Africa to participate in the BRICS Foreign Ministers meeting being held in Cape Town.

Besides attending the meeting, he will also hold a bilateral meeting with his South African counterpart, Naledi Pandor.

Jaishankar will call on the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, and is expected to hold bilateral meetings with other BRICS Foreign Ministers, as well as, ‘Friends of BRICS’ Ministers. He will also have an interaction with the Indian diaspora in Cape Town, added the statement.

EAM will thereafter visit Namibia from June 4 to June 6. This will be the first visit by an External Affairs Minister of India to Namibia.

During the visit, EAM will call on the country’s top leadership and meet with other ministers of the government, according to a government release.