New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar Thursday said India’s relationship with Russia has been steady since 1955 when Moscow supported New Delhi’s cause at the United Nations for the first time, while its ties with Washington and Beijing saw several ups and down as the world underwent significant changes with disintegration of the Soviet Union.
According to the External Affairs Minister, the relationship between India and Russia grew strength to strength for over six decades due to the support from the leadership in both countries coupled with robust public sentiment.
“If you look at our relations with Russia, after 1955, when (Nikita) Khrushchev and (Nikolai) Bulganin came here, for the first time they supported India in the United Nations, our relations have been very steady. And during this period, there were many major changes in the world, the Soviet Union had collapsed, Cold War came, Cold War went, Unipolar came, that went too, Europe unified. And if we look at the relationship between Russia, China-Russia, US-Russia, Russia-Europe, all these relations have had their ups and downs, but our relations have been very steady and there is reason to it,” Jaishankar said while addressing a press conference.
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“And the reason is, because in both countries, leadership and public sentiment also supports it. Both of us understand that we are a big Eurasian countries, the stability of the whole of Europe is on us, on our relations,” the minister said while speaking to the media on the nine years of the Narendra Modi government.
“This is the reason why last year (when the Russia-Ukraine war) began, we did not let it impact our bilateral ties for which some questions were raised against us,” he said, adding that the Ukraine war has impacted several countries in their own way.
On the growing ties between Moscow and Beijing, he said it is up to those countries to decide whom they want to be partner with.
G20 Communique Under India’s Could Be A ‘Challenge’
Jaishankar Thursday also made it clear that the G20 Summit, which will take place in September for the first time under India’s Presidency, will see participation only from the member countries, ruling out the attendance by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“In our view G20 participation is for members of G20 and for the countries and organisations who we have invited to the G20 and that list was declared as soon as we assumed the Presidency of the G20. So it is not something we have reviewed and it is not something, very honestly, which we have discussed with anybody,” he said.
However, it was not clear whether or not Zelenskyy will be allowed to speak at the summit virtually.
Jaishankar, however, admitted that at the last G20 Summit that took place in Bali, Indonesia, “there were a lot of challenges” in getting the final declaration out.
“I, in fact, commended even then the Indonesian presidency for making that big effort and getting done the Bali Declaration. But I would also share with you that even at that time, a lot of us worked alongside Indonesia … All of us put our collective energies together,” said the External Affairs Minister.
In September last year, Jaishankar said, this was the reason he went to Moscow to discuss the matter with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
“So this year, you know, we are endeavoring to find a common landing point. There are differences of opinion even about what was agreed to in Bali last year. So how do we handle it? It’s very hard for me. I mean, you know, diplomats are still working at it. So I don’t want to predict. I don’t want to sort of, in a way, give too much detail. I mean, I accept your point that it’s a challenge. But, you know, diplomacy is a business for optimistic people. So I think it’s something that we would look at,” he said responding to a query.
Last month, Prime Minister Modi met Ukraine President Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the G7 Summit that took place in Hiroshima, Japan, clarifying India’s position on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Referring to Ukraine, Jaishankar also said: “I mean what we did in Ukraine was the subject of numerous conversations with my counterparts and I’ve heard, you know, people, Presidents and Prime Ministers also speak to our own Prime Minister in that regard. But while we look after our own, we also take pride and I think the world recognises that we are genuinely international.”
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India An ‘Independent Force’
Jaishankar also said India has emerged as an “independent force” under the Modi government.
“You’re all aware of the debates in the last year about Ukraine and various ramifications, that’s one example I would say of where we were clear from the very start about taking an independent stance, not just on the conflict itself but on the various ramifications of that conflict. But I could share with you other examples, the Quad,” he said.
The minister also highlighted that the idea of Quad first came about in 2007 and thereafter in 2008 “everybody buckled to pressure”.
“Ten years later, when this time around we were doing Quad, it was not that there wasn’t pressure, it was just that we didn’t bend. So Quad too is an example of our independence. As indeed is the Voice of Global South, you know, we are the first G20 President who have actually made an effort to consult other people and 125 countries responded because they believed we are an independent voice,” he underlined.
Jaishankar also said that India’s emergence as an “independent force” can also be seen in the endorsement of all 125 countries of the Global South.
“So when I say how does the world look at us…there can be no bigger endorsement of our standing than the manner in which 125 countries respond during the Voice of Global South. But it can also be on the ground, you know, when we stand up on our northern borders, vis-a-vis, China, when we take a clear stand on Belt and Road; those two are examples of our independence that we are not swayed by, either coercion or by inducement or by false narratives,” he added.