NEW DELHI, Feb. 14 (UPI) -- Russia, India and China Wednesday called for a peaceful solution to crises including Iraq and Iran.
The foreign ministers of the three giant Eurasian nations said they wanted to see peaceful solutions to the crises in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. The United States currently has large combat forces operating in Iraq, significant forces in Afghanistan and appears heading towards a confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program.
"We share the view that all regional conflicts should be resolved through dialogue and without confrontation," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference after the meeting according to a report from the RIA Novosti news agency.
"Lavrov also said the ministers discussed future cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a regional security and economic bloc that comprises Russia, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, and has India as an observer member," RIA Novosti said.
India is not a member of the Chinese and Russian-led SCO, but it has observer status and warm relations with the organization, which was founded in June 2001 in part to combat U.S. influence in Central Asia.
"Last year, the organization announced plans to conduct in 2007 the first joint military exercise with another regional security bloc, the Collective Security Treaty Organization, comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan," RIA Novosti said.
"The ministers also stressed the importance of regional security organizations in the fight against terrorism and agreed to coordinate their efforts to eliminate factors that create 'the breeding grounds' for the spread of terrorism, including financing, illicit drug-trafficking and transnational crime," the report said.
RIA Novosti noted that Russia and China "reaffirmed their backing of India's bid for permanent U.N. Security Council membership."
