FirstUp: Jaishankar-Lavrov bilateral in Moscow, Wang Yi in Pakistan, and other news 

It is set to be a busy Wednesday with several events lined up for the day.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will hold bilateral talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Pakistan for the fifth round of Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue.

The parole hearing for Erik Menendez will take place today before the California Board of Parole Hearings. In India, B Sudershan Reddy is likely to file his nomination for the upcoming vice-presidential elections. Meanwhile, the Monsoon session of the Parliament will come to an end today.

Here is all that is set to take place throughout the day.

EAM Jaishankar to hold bilateral talks with Russia’s Lavrov

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is set to hold bilateral talks with Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the backdrop of the 26th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC).

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The meeting is seen as a pivotal step in reinforcing the “special and privileged strategic partnership” between the two nations. It will continue the frequent high-level dialogue that has been taking place between the two countries.

Earlier this year, Jaishankar met Lavrov at high-profile global forums including the SCO Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the Brics Summit, indicating sustained diplomatic engagement across multilateral platforms.

Wang Yi in Pakistan

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is currently in Pakistan to participate in the annual China–Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. The talks underscored Beijing’s commitment to deepening its “all-weather” partnership with Islamabad amid evolving South Asian geopolitics.

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During his stop in Pakistan, Wang likely reaffirmed China’s support for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship Belt and Road Initiative project central to bilateral cooperation. CPEC remains vital for economic integration and regional development, yet concerns linger regarding security threats to Chinese nationals and infrastructure in Pakistan.

The visit comes after Wang Yi recently travelled to India, where he met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. His New Delhi meetings were part of the ongoing efforts to manage the strained relationship between the two Asian giants, which has not fully recovered from the clashes in Galwan Valley in 2020.

Gaganyaan mission press conference

Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh will chair a press meet on updates on the Gaganyaan, India’s first manned space mission. There will also be a media interaction with Indian astronaut Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and Group Captain Prasanth Nair, who are part of the mission. Also present will be Dr V Narayanan, the chairman of Isro.

Shukla, who became the first India on board the International Space Station, returned to India from the US recently. He met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 18.

Erik Menendez’s parole hearing

The parole hearing for Erik Menendez will take place today in California. The Menendez brothers, Erik and Lyle, have been in prison since 1989.

Their eligibility stems from a May 2025 resentencing, which changed their original sentences of life without parole to 50 years to life, based on California’s “youth offender” criteria. Because they were under age 26 when the murders occurred in 1989, both became eligible for parole after serving over 35 years.

Erik Menendez’s lawyer has cited a “serious medical condition”, reported as kidney stones, requesting a possible medical furlough to better prepare for his hearing.

Sudershan Reddy to file nomination

Opposition’s (India bloc) candidate for the upcoming vice-presidential election, B Sudershan Reddy, is set to file his nomination today. The former Supreme Court judge has been fielded against the ruling NDA’s pick,  Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is no longer part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (India), has also extended its support to Justice Reddy’s candidature.

The Vice-Presidential election, prompted by the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar last month, is scheduled for September 9, with the filing of nominations closing on August 21.

Monsoon Session to end

The Monsoon Session of the Parliament, which began on July 21, will come to an end today after 21 sessions.

Over the course of the session, Parliament introduced eight new bills and considered seven pending bills. The bills regarding economic reforms targeting tax simplification, ease of doing business, shipping sectors, and mineral development received legislative attention.

Some of the important bills included the Income Tax Bill, 2025, National Sports Governance Bill, Merchant Shipping Bill, Geoheritage Sites and Geo-relics (Preservation and Maintenance) Bill, among others.

With inputs from agencies