Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in India to participate in the G20 summit
Photo: REUTERS
On Friday morning, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, and in the afternoon he was in New Delhi, India. At the same time, he at times clearly did not object to accelerating further, and urged members of his delegation to move forward.
During the 20 hours that Lavrov worked in Dhaka, the minister managed to hold negotiations with the prime minister and the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of this country, answer questions from journalists, meet at the embassy with graduates of Soviet universities and visit the house . museum.
They avoided death only because they were in Germany.
Eight people died in this house in 1975. Among them the leader of the struggle for Bangladesh independence, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and his son. Only two daughters of the founding father of Bangladesh lived then. No, they were not saved. At that time they were visiting Germany. This saved them.
– I am glad to visit the museum in memory of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation. We remember the great role of Mujibur Rahman as a fighter for the independence of his people. The Soviet Union provided significant support to his struggle and was one of the first countries to recognize Bangladesh’s sovereignty, Lavrov wrote in the visitors’ book. He then thought for a few seconds and continued writing: “We value our common history and the foundation of mutually beneficial friendly relations between our countries established by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.”
Lavrov’s company on the adjacent pages of this book is excellent. The Secretary General of the UN, the President of India and the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka are there. And even the first lady of the Maldives.
Second day of victory!
From the museum, Lavrov, without journalists, went to the Russian Embassy, where a meeting of the Minister with the employees of our diplomatic mission would be held, something quite common on this type of business trips. However, not everything went according to the original plan. The meeting was very emotional.
Not only diplomats, but also about thirty graduates of Soviet and Russian universities in Bangladesh were waiting for Lavrov at the embassy. First they asked him to tell what was happening now in Ukraine. The response, as one of the diplomats present at this meeting told me, took about twenty-five minutes. I mean, it was very detailed.
The graduates themselves then spoke. Some of them studied in Russian universities, others in the territory that was once called the Ukrainian SSR. It was clear that what was happening now in Ukraine was not something strange and distant for them.
– We are very grateful to the Soviet Union for giving the world and all of us Victory Day! We really hope that Russia will soon give us a second Victory Day! – concluded Mizanur Rahman, professor of international law at the University of Dhaka. Almost all the graduates present at this meeting applauded.
Lavrov entered the top twenty
Another three hours of flight and we are already in New Delhi, where the next geopolitical battle will begin tomorrow. In fact, the G20 summit will be the final chord of an exciting three-week diplomatic marathon.
First, a meeting of BRICS leaders was held in South Africa. Indonesia then hosted the ASEAN Summit and the East Asia Summit. And now the G20 meets in India. Russia is represented there by Sergei Lavrov.
“It will be interesing!” – one of the senior members of the Russian delegation promised me during the flight from Dhaka to New Delhi.
Love of the whole world?
By the way, the day before the Indian magazine “Blitz India” featured the G20 leaders on the cover. In the front row, the publication placed the five main figures of the summit that will begin tomorrow (in the order indicated in the magazine): the President of the United States, the President of the People’s Republic of China, the Prime Ministers of India and Great Britain, as well as the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry. And the headline: “India Hosts the World.” But keeping in mind the English pun, the same sentence can be translated as “India owns the whole world”.
