In what looks to be a clear message for China, India and Russia have seen to have zeroed in on leading the post-covid world order. Putin’s meeting with Russian foreign ministry officials and its positive consequences for India again comes as a testament to strengthening the bilateral relationship between India and Russia.
Putin meets his foreign ministry officials:
Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India for an annual bilateral summit between both countries. Ahead of his visit on 6th December, he decided to take the stock of international diplomatic set-up with the expanded foreign ministry board. In the meeting with his officials, he did not hesitate in accepting India’s rise as a ‘strong center of the multipolar world’.
Addressing the first in-person meeting of the board after the Pandemic, Putin said, “We intend to build up our truly multifaceted bilateral cooperation. We regard India as an independent, strong center of the multipolar world. We have a similar foreign policy philosophy and priorities,” Describing varying equations between Russia, India, and China, the three pillars of BRICS, Putin termed India as a special privileged strategic partner.
Russian president unequivocally supported India’s stand on the Pakistan-backed Taliban and other terrorist groups in the region. Expressing his views on threats emanating from the rise of the Taliban, he said, “There are serious challenges with respect to Afghanistan, especially after the US withdrawal from that country… Developments in Afghanistan dictate the need for additional measures to ensure Russia’s security on its southern borders and provide assistance to our allies – Central Asian states that consider Russia to be a guarantor of regional stability. It is necessary to continue acting in this vein, taking measures to prevent uncontrollable refugee flows and stop terrorists and other criminals from crossing our border,”.
PM Modi – Putin’s first choice leader in the post-covid world:
President Vladimir Putin is set to visit India for an annual bilateral summit between heads of state from India and Russia. The bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin will be held on the 6th of December 2021. Besides 20-year-old annual summit, both countries will be having a 2+2 dialogue summit as well. The 2+2 summit will witness India’s Defence minister Rajnath Singh and External affairs minister S Jaishankar having a bilateral meeting with their Russian counterparts Sergey Lavrov and Sergey Shoygu.
Modi-Putin summit holds a huge strategic significance in the post-covid world order. After covid lockdowns are over, President Putin has chosen Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his first bilateral talk with the head of the state. The preference for India is crucial as India-China relations are currently at an all-time low due to Chinese failed treachery to India in the Galwan valley, while on the other hand, both India and Russia are looking for a reliable regional ally.
Read more: A new Indo-Russia pole in a new world order is on its way
India and Russia – Partners for ages:
Ever Since India got freedom in 1947, both Russia and India have been pillars of strength for each other. Though India did not show any ideological inclination towards either of USSR or USA block of the cold-era, Russia was never hesitant in supporting India’s developmental story from a third-world country to a modern emerging superpower. During the 1971 war of liberation for Bangladesh, Russia acted as a buffer for India and stopped China and United States from interfering in the war which could have tilted the results in Pakistan’s favour. Major credit for India’s modernized armed forces goes to Russia, which kept supporting Indian forces even when the world had abandoned India in the wake of its successful attempt in becoming Aatmanirbhar in the atomic bomb.
Increased cooperation between India and Russia:
Recently, due to Prime Minister Modi’s active diplomacy, India and Russia have developed strong bonhomie after being inert for 10 years during the Congress era.
- Russia has become an active partner in India’s act east policy. President Putin has become quite active in supporting the countries like Vietnam and the Phillippines who are facing the active threat of Chinese enforced hegemony on their sovereign territory.
- India, Japan, and Russia are developing a special cooperative trilateral arrangement. The move is aimed at providing a boost to Prime minister Modi’s vision of making the Indo-Pacific strategic initiative “inclusive and not just against one country”,
- The Russian far-east, a huge natural resource reserve and melting glaciers of the Arctic have the potential to provide a huge boost to Russia’s ambition of re-emergence as a superpower. However, as usual, China also attempted to impose itself here as well. But Russia was quick to counter China and it facilitated Indian companies like ONGC, Tata Power and the Sun Group, etc to actively invest in the region.
- Through this move, Russia gave a clear signal to China that responsible and cooperative India will be the preferred Asian superpower in the 21st century.
- Moreover, India continues on its defence deals with Russia, sidestepping all threats by the China-leaning Biden administration in the region.
With so much history and cooperation between both countries, under Prime Minister Modi, India and Russia have a huge potential to exponentially develop bilateral as well as multilateral cooperation between them. As USA and China are regularly seen as irresponsible powers, India and Russia can easily replace them strategically, militaristically and culturally as well.