Opinion | Why Russia’s relations with India and China will survive Galwan border clash
- China and India’s current impasse poses a huge political challenge for Russia, which has established long-term strategic ties with both countries
- Staying out of the border tensions without lending support to either side dovetails with Russia’s interests in forging diversified political contacts
The intensification of this dispute has spurred concern among Nepal, Japan and other regional players who have to balance their foreign policy between China and India. It has also drawn the attention of larger powers such as the United States and Russia, with the former offering mediation but to no avail.
China and India’s current impasse poses a huge political challenge for Russia, which has established long-term strategic ties with both countries.
Russia-India relations are officially described as a “special and privileged strategic partnership”, a formula that was originally promulgated during President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to India in 2010. The special nature of their bilateral relations has been underscored several times in recent years, such as Putin’s 2018 state visit to India and a 2019 meeting between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The two sides adopted “India-Russia: an Enduring Partnership in a Changing World”, a 2018 joint statement in which they recognised the importance of adjusting relations in a new global reality.
Russia and China upgraded their relations last year to a “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era”. Some have seen this as evidence of both countries’ desire to reshape the nature of their bilateral relations amid new challenges and the intensification of global geostrategic competition with the US.
02:13
Three Indian soldiers killed in border clash with Chinese troops