
Some fog around our ties with Russia needs to be lifted. Differences over some issues, which have surfaced, are real, but they should not be exaggerated. Compared to the differences we have with the United States, those with Russia are much more confined. They are the normal product of dramatic changes in international relations in recent decades to which India and Russia have had to adjust their foreign policies. The important point is that even as both sides have responded in the light of national interests, efforts to preserve the bilateral ties at their core have continued.
Russia is under great pressure by the West. This has pushed it towards China with which it has forged increasingly close strategic ties. We are impacted by this, as this has altered the balance within the Russia-India-China and the BRICS formats against us. So long as the US sees both Russia and China as adversaries and does not try to glean Russia away from China, Russian reliance on China to compensate for combined US/European pressure will not diminish.
The strengthening of Russia-China ties is not directed at India, just as the strengthening of India-US ties is not directed at Russia. How Russia plays its ties with India in the China context would be important to us. With India-China ties deteriorating, it will serve our interests if Russia remains neutral. We would expect this because Russia-China ties are not devoid of elements of conflict and rivalry.
China has replaced Russia as the world’s number two power, encroached into Russia’s space in Central Asia as well as Europe, generated concerns in Russia about its ambitions in the Arctic, seeks revision of the terms of 2001 Treaty of Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation that Russia is resisting, and so on. The recent China-Iran agreement would not have pleased Russia either because of the feeling that it has done much of the heavy lifting for Iran on the nuclear issue and its regional interests but China is reaping most of the advantage from it. Russia is also aware that notwithstanding the growing tensions in US-China relations, China has more options to deal with the US than Russia has.
Read More at https://www.news18.com/news/opinion/should-stronger-russia-china-ties-worry-india-a-top-diplomat-answers-3626804.html
Comments