EAM meets Australian counterpart at UNGA 79; signs biodiversity agreement

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Senator Penny Wong caught up with each other on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.

Taking to social media platform X, Jaishankar attributed Senator Wong as a "Quad partner".

"Catching up with Quad partner FM Senator Penny Wong at UNGA79," he said.

Prior to this, Jaishankar signed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) agreement at the United Nations Headquarters, taking a step towards ensuring that the oceans remain healthy and resilient.

"Signed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement today the United Nations HQ. India is proud to join the BBNJ Agreement, an important step towards ensuring that our oceans remain healthy and resilient," he said in another post in X.

Following this, he met with the Foreign Minister of Rawanda, Olivier JP Nduhungirehe and said that it was nice to meet him.

"Nice to meet the new FM Olivier JP Nduhungirehe of Rawanda," Jaishankar said in X.

He also held talks with his Syrian counterpart, Bassam Sabbagh and held talks on cooperation in health, education and capacity development, as well as sharing their views on the developments in West Asia.

"A cordial meeting with FM Bassam Sabbagh of Syria today. Spoke about cooperation in health, education and capacity development. Shared views on the ongoing developments in West Asia," he said in X.

Besides, he also met with Foreign Minister of El Salvador Alexandra Hill Tinoco and discussed the topics of connectivity, digital, health and capability building.

"Always a delight to meet FM Alexandra Hill Tinoco of El Salvador. We discussed connectivity, digital, health and capability building. And also our shared desire to reform the global order," he said in another post in X.

Earlier, Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday (local time) on the sidelines of the 79th United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of External Affairs of India Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar hold talks on the sidelines of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said in an X post.

In response to Lavrov's post, Jaishankar posted on X, "Met FM Sergey Lavrov this afternoon at UNGA 79. Discussed our bilateral cooperation and regional issues.