India to host Russian foreign minister, US climate change envoy

New Delhi is hosting senior ministers from two big countries, which have not been seeing eye to eye of late. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is arriving on Monday on a two-day visit, as is the US special presidential envoy on climate, John Kerry. Significantly, while Lavrov will head to Islamabad from Delhi, Kerry's three-nation tour does not include Pakistan. His itinerary comprises the UAE, India and Bangladesh.

Lavrov, who has recently visited Beijing, is arriving on Monday night. He will hold talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Tuesday and then emplane for Islamabad. According to the Russian embassy, the special and privileged strategic partnership with India is one of Russia's foreign policy priorities. “The two sides are developing an active political dialogue, trade and economic, as well as military and technical ties, scientific, cultural and humanitarian contacts. A considerable experience of fruitful cooperation in wide range of areas has been accumulated. The interest of the Indian business in the Far East and other regions of Russia is growing,” a statement said.

Lavrov will also discuss the implementation of outcomes of the 20th Russian-Indian summit, 2019, Vladivostok, and ”topical issues of bilateral relations with an emphasis on the forthcoming high- and highest-level meetings.” Russian President Vladimir Putin is slated to visit India, but the trip has not yet been scheduled.

“India is a responsible and influential global player. We share the same vision of the model of the emerging polycentric world order. We attach great importance to collective work based on the principles of goodwill, consensus and equality, rejection of confrontation and bloc-type approaches. In the spirit of the special and privileged strategic partnership, we regularly check the status of our positions and coordinate approaches on a wide range of issues, including reform of the global governance and strengthening the UN's central coordinating role in international affairs,'' says the Russian statement.

Kerry, meanwhile, is arriving on a four-day tour, ahead of US President Joe Biden's international conference on climate change on April 22 and 23. The virtual conference is important, ahead of the Conference of Parties 26 meet in Glasgow later this year, as it underscores the US's return to the Paris Agreement, from which Donald Trump had walked out. India is among the 40 countries who were invited by the US to the conference. Russia and China, as well as Bangladesh, are among the others. Pakistan is not part of the conference.

The US has called India critical to any solution on the climate crisis. Kerry will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as several ministers, including environment, power and renewable energy. He will also be meeting with private stakeholders. There is likely to be much negotiating, since the US is among those countries that feel India should reduce its carbon emissions. “A key focus for our administration is supporting and encouraging India's decarbonisation efforts through clean, zero- and low-carbon investment, and supporting India in mitigating its fossil energy use,” said a statement from the US government.

India, on the other hand, says it has developmental goals to meet, which cannot be done without burning coal, even though India has scaled up its renewable energy ambition phenomenally.