No Military Alliance with China, Quad – India free to determine its Foreign Policy priorities as a responsible world power – Russian Foreign Minister says in Pakistan

Foreign Minister of Russia Mr Sergey Lavrov concluded his two day visit to India and reached Pakistan for the next leg of his tour on 06 April. After a lengthy meeting with India’s Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar, both leaders issued Press Statements in a joint Press Meet on Tuesday afternoon underlining the importance of India Russia friendship which should not be viewed from the prism of external factors. The opening remarks of Mr Lavrov clarified that, “These relations are traditionally mutually respectful, self-valuable and are not subject to fluctuations in the market.” In his statement, Dr Jaishankar said, “India Russia relations have remained uniquely strong and steady. And the reason for that has been our consistent ability to identify and update our shared interests. We are both cognisant of the multi-polar and rebalanced nature of international relations today. We both understand the importance of our relationship to global peace, security and stability.” A direct reference to Quad was avoided, though Indo Pacific found a mention in the Press Conference.

The highlights of Press statements made by both ministers were:

• Visit of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to the Republic of India for the Annual Summit later this year.
• International North-South Transport Corridor and the Chennai-Vladivostok Eastern Maritime Corridor.
• Particular attention was paid to such areas as energy, including nuclear, peaceful exploration of outer space, transport and infrastructure projects, including in the Far East and the Arctic region.
• In meeting the Covid challenge, pharmaceutical collaboration has become more serious and Sputnik V Russian vaccine was under discussion for production in India.
• Issues on which India is chairing UNSC committees came up in some detail. India has also taken over the Chair of BRICS and RIC from Russia for this year. The common membership of the G-20, ASEAN-led forums, SCO and CICA were part of the conversation.
• The state and prospects of bilateral military-technical cooperation, including the joint production of modern types of weapons in India. In this strategically important area, Russia remains New Delhi’s leading external counterparty as per Lavrov.
• Both leaders examined such issues as a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, the Syrian crisis, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in Myanmar. For India, what happens in Afghanistan impacts its security directly. Dr Jaishankar shared Indian approach that a durable peace there would require harmonising interests of all, both within and around that country. The peace process must be based on foundational principles to which we all subscribe.
• India shared its view-point on the Indo-Pacific. As  Prime Minister pointed out, contemporary challenges require countries to work together in new and different ways. Such cooperation also reflects the multi-polar and rebalanced character of global politics. India is strongly committed to ASEAN centrality and this is underlined by the Indo-Pacific Oceans. Answering a qustion, Russian Foreign Minister mentioned “There is also talk of continuing to promote projects to create a “Middle East NATO”, and recently there has been even talk of an “Asian NATO”. Today we exchanged views on this matter. Our Indian friends and I have a common position that this will be counterproductive.”

Answering a specific question on much talked about Russia-China military alliance, Lavrov clarified, “No. In the bilateral documents approved at the highest level during the Russian-Chinese summits, it is recorded that our relations have reached the best level in history, but do not pursue the goal of creating a military alliance.”

The Russian Foreign Minister landed in Islamabad late night and will be holding talks with Foreign Minister of Pakistan on 07 April. In an interview to a TV channel in Pakistan, he said that Moscow & Islamabad enjoy friendly, constructive relations. Our priorities are, above all, cooperation in combating terrorism, trade & economic ties. Answering a pointed question by the channel,”How will peace and security in South Asia be affected by India’s unilateral actions in Kashmir, its active participation in the “Quad” (USA-India-Japan-Australia) and its dispute over the border areas with China?” the Russian Foreign Minister clarified, “As for New Delhi’s participation in the “Quad”, we proceed from the fact that India as a responsible world power determines its foreign policy priorities by itself. At the same time we are convinced that disagreements between states in any region of the world including, of course, South Asia, should be resolved in a peaceful, civilized manner based on international law.”