Jaishankar meets Ukrainian, Saudi counterparts on G7 FMM sidelines; discusses regional, bilateral issues

Ottawa, Nov 12 (PTI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday held separate meetings with his Ukrainian and Saudi counterparts on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting (FMM) Outreach session in Canada, discussing recent developments and regional issues of mutual interest.

Jaishankar, in a social media post, said he had a “useful conversation” with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

"He (Sybiha) shared Ukraine's perspective on recent developments," the EAM said.

Jaishankar also met Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and discussed a wide range of subjects, including bilateral relations, regional hotspots, connectivity, and energy.

Jaishankar is in Niagara to attend an outreach session with the G7 partner nations.

Earlier in the day, Jaishankar held talks with his American counterpart Marco Rubio that largely focused on issues relating to trade and supply chains.

The external affairs minister also met his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand and reviewed India-Canada cooperation in areas of trade, energy, security and people-to-people ties as part of efforts to rebuild ties that came under serious strain following a diplomatic row two years ago.

He also held separate bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Germany, France, Brazil and the UK on the margins of the G7 meeting.

During his talks with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Jaishankar in a social media post said he "took stock of our Strategic Partnership. Discussed deepening our cooperation in multilateral and plurilateral formats".

Following his talks with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, Jaishankar said: "We are actively exploring opportunities for greater trade, investment, health and technology cooperation." After meeting German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, the external affairs minister said the focus was on advancing the bilateral strategic partnership and India-EU ties.

Jaishankar said he and Wadephul also exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East, Indo-Pacific and Afghanistan.

On his meeting with British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, he said the positive momentum in India-UK relations was acknowledged. PTI SCY SCY SCY