RIC troika to discuss impact of Jaipur blast

Yeketenberg, May 14 : The synchronized terror strikes which rocked pink city Jaipur, killing more than 70 people, will be discussed in the talks between the Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) when they meet in the Russian city of Yekatarinburg.

Senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry have told ANI that terrorism will remain high on the agenda of the troika dialogue.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who has arrived here for the two-day talks, will also be holding bilateral dialogue with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.

Mukherjee will discuss with them a broad range of issues aimed at deepening economic and strategic cooperation among the emerging economic giants.

Till now, no terrorist group has claimed the responsibility of the attack, but Indian security agencies are reportedly suspecting involvement of Bangladesh based Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islam (HuJI) and Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba in the blasts.

The timing of the attacks assume significance as it occurred just days before the resumption of fourth round of Composite Dialogue between India and Pakistan. Today in New Delhi, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon said that issue of terrorism would be raised with Islamabad during next week's meeting.

Earlier, condemning the attack External Affairs Minister had told ANI in Dubai, "First we will ascertain who is behind the attack before arriving at any conclusion."

During their last meeting in Harbin (China) in September 2007, these three countries made a strong statement against the terrorist outfits trained, equipped, espoused and harboured on the Pakistani soil. By Naveen Kapoor

ANI