The sooner there is normalisation in India-China relations, the better it would be for the world, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov said, adding that a weak Pakistan would not be better for the region, India or Afghanistan, and Russia would not do anything detrimental to India in its relations with Islamabad.
Mr. Alipov acknowledged that India-Russia ties have been under stress for sometime in terms of economic ties, which had accelerated since last year due to the “tectonic geopolitical” shifts in Europe, referring to the war in Ukraine.
The envoy said that Russia had completed deliveries of the third regiment of the S-400 Triumf air defence system and reiterated that they were committed to completing the deal on schedule. India contracted for a five S-400 regiments in a $5.43 billion deal signed in 2018.
We always have our relations with India in the background when we talk of our relations with Pakistan, especially on defence,” Mr. Alipov said, speaking at a seminar on 30 years of the India-Russia friendship treaty organised by India Writes Network and the Centre for Global India Insights..
We have maintained consistently that we will never do anything detrimental to India in our relations with Pakistan. We strangle our defence cooperation with Pakistan because it will impact our relations with India.
We have limited defence relationship with Islamabad, very limited, to counter-terrorism, Mr. Alipov said, while adding that Russia wanted to expand its economic partnership with Pakistan.
We don’t think a weak Pakistan would be a better choice for the region, for India or Afghanistan,” the envoy said, and further clarified, Meaning, destabilised Pakistan is not in the interests of any in the region. A strong anti-India Pakistan cannot be in the interest of any, particularly India.
On India-China relations and the ongoing standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), he said Russia would like to see the normalisation of relations that would benefit the whole world. “We understand there are serious impediments to that, very serious border problem between the two countries,” he said, referring to Russia’s own border conflict with China, which he said took them around 40 years to resolve, but ultimately, “to compromise” is the only way.