The chairman of the Indian parliament’s international affairs committee, Shashi Tharoor, and his Russian counterpart, Leonid Slutsky, head of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, exchanged views in Moscow, also on the conflict in Ukraine and the recent military escalation between New Delhi and Islamabad, according to the India correspondent of the news outlet Russia Today.

The talks focused on possible avenues for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and the outcome of the direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv held last month in Istanbul, according to the Russian side.

Other topics on the agenda included regional security in Asia and interparliamentary cooperation within the BRICS framework, he emphasized.

While Tharoor’s trip to Moscow was organized at the invitation of RT, bilateral talks between Russia and India was also on the agenda, and both sides reaffirmed the long-term strategic relationship between the two nations, according to the source.

“Today’s meeting is a valuable opportunity for close talks with high-level legislators from countries that play pivotal roles in global politics and international affairs,” Slutsky said after the event.

He also hailed India as a key member of the BRICS group and maintained that it was crucial for the group’s members to “initiate serious discussions on developing a parliamentary dimension” within its framework in the near future.

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