R Krishna Das
When the Indian authorities described defence minister Rajnath Singh’s meeting with Chinese counterpart in Moscow at “latter’s request”, it did not come as a big surprise for diplomats.
Beijing had proposed a meeting between the defence ministers of India and China, who happened to be in Moscow to attend the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). And the Russian hosts had done their part in facilitating this exchange, the first political level meeting since the India-China standoff began in early May.
Moscow is watching the India-China standoff and is aware of its grave implications for regional security and stability. For, it has a big role to play if the tension escalates. Beyond doubts, Russia is the only country that can act as facilitator for any eventual Chinese-Indian rapprochement.
Whether Russia would support China was a different matter; what remained significant was why Russia would not help India. There was no immediate reason Russia would “betray” India.
In today’s international political circumstances, Russia has become a uniquely placed indispensable partner for India. Importantly, this is also the finest foreign-policy legacy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under whose watch the India-Russia relationship has steadily regained its verve.
From the Russian viewpoint, it remains a matter of satisfaction that despite India’s deepening ties with the US, and notwithstanding growing pressures lately from Washington on New Delhi to whittle down its relations with Russia, the Russian-Indian relationship continues to be resilient in adapting to newer and newer conditions in a world order in flux.
The military standoff in Ladakh has necessitated a big build-up of the Indian armed forces, and New Delhi is sourcing Russian weaponry. Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is currently on his second visit to Moscow in the past two-months.
Nonetheless, one should not overestimate Russia’s capacity to moderate the India-China border standoff. And the Indian camp had all the reasons to smile as China would have certain disadvantages.
After all, India’s advantage is that it has excellent relations with both the US and Russia.
