St. Petersburg (Russia): Asserting that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are “responsible" leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said they both are capable of solving issues between the two countries, and that it was important that no “extra-regional power" should interfere in the process.
With Russia publicly critical of the Quad, the four-nation grouping of India, the US, Japan and Australia, Vladimir Putin also told news agency Press Trust of India that though it was not up to Moscow to assess how any nation should participate in an initiative and to what extent they should build their relations with other countries but no partnership should be aimed at making friends against anyone.
The Russian President’s remarks, in response to a question on Moscow’s view on Quad as well as India’s participation in the grouping, were a veiled reference to the Chinese claim that the grouping is to contain Beijing’s influence in the strategic Indo-Pacific region.
He also asserted that there were no “contradictions" in Russia’s partnership with India and the ties between Moscow and Beijing.
“Yes, I do know that there are some issues related to India-China relations but there are always a lot of issues between neighbouring countries but I know the attitude of both the Prime Minister of India and also the President of China. These are very responsible people and they earnestly treat one another with utmost respect and I believe that they will always arrive at a solution to any issue that they might face."
“But it is important that no other extra-regional power is interfering with that," the Russian President told news agency PTI through a translator during a virtual interaction.
It has been more than a year since the military standoff between China and India erupted in eastern Ladakh on May 5, 2020 during which there were fatalities on both sides for the first time in decades. They have made limited progress in achieving disengagement at the Pangong Lake area while negotiations for similar steps at other friction points remained deadlocked.
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