Earlier in the day, the Russian, Indian and Chinese foreign ministers held a meeting in Moscow to discuss conflict settlement in the Middle East, Ukraine and Afghanistan, terrorism and reforms to the United Nations in what is the 14th summit in this format.
"Even though this is not an anniversary [summit], the number of events conducted so far demonstrates that the RIC mechanism remains sought-after and works in an effective manner. This is a dialogue platform which has become an important factor in global politics," Lavrov said in opening the summit.
Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, in turn, called on the RIC countries to play a key role in uniting international efforts against terrorism.
The trilateral RIC format began with meetings during UN General Assemblies between 2003 and 2005, as well as during the 2004 CICA meeting in Almaty, Kazakhstan. RIC foreign minister meetings have been held independently of other summits since 2005.