Lavrov speaks to Jaishankar, calls for easing tension through diplomatic means

Jaishankar posted on X on Saturday, “Discussed the Pahalgam terrorist attack with FM Lavrov of Russia yesterday. Its perpetrators, backers and planners must be brought to justice.”

“Also spoke about our bilateral cooperation activities,” he said. The Russian Foreign ministry readout said, “On May 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar. They discussed topical issues of the Russian-Indian cooperation, as well as the aggravation of Indian-Pakistani relations following the terrorist attack near Pahalgam.”  It talked about the escalation in the tension between the two countries.

“Sergey Lavrov called for the settlement of disagreements between New Delhi and Islamabad by political and diplomatic means on a bilateral basis in accordance with the provisions of the Simla Agreement of 1972 and the Lahore Declaration of 1999,” it said. Pakistan has said that it will also not abide by the Simla pact, if India has withdrawn from the Indus Waters Treaty.  It also said that the ministers also discussed the schedule of upcoming contacts at the highest levels.

Rajanath to skip event

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to skip Russia’s Victory Day parade and his deputy Sanjay Seth is likely to represent India at the event in Moscow this week, official sources said on Saturday.

The move to send the MoS for Defence to the May 9 ceremony comes amid increasing tensions between India and Pakistan. Russia had invited PM Narendra Modi for the Victory Day parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Germany in the World War II, but it was decided that Singh would attend the event. Russia has invited leaders of several friendly nations to attend this year’s parade.            with PTI