Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman held talks with her Russian counterpart Anton Siluanov on enhancing bilateral cooperation and creating a Development Bank under the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.

On Monday, the two ministers met for discussions on the sidelines of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) Meeting in Asheville, a city situated approximately 760 kilometers from Washington.

The two parties discussed ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, reviewed regional and global economic trends, and addressed matters of mutual concern in multilateral forums, the Finance Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Sitharaman and Siluanov discussed collaboration within the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and examined shared priorities aimed at reinforcing both institutions as effective multilateral development banks..

The statement added that they also talked about creating a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Development Bank.

Siluanov’s attendance at the G-20 represented the first in-person participation by a Russian official at the multilateral forum’s gathering in the United States.

Previously, in April 2022, Siluanov joined a G-20 meeting via video link, an appearance that led several Western finance ministers to leave the session in protest.

Russia was removed from the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrialised countries following its 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, though it continues to participate in the G-20.

The G-8 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.