By Ankit Panda
Does Russia have the ability to create rapprochement between India and China?
Over at The Pulse, Akhilesh Pillalamarri describes the relationship between Russia and India as the closest thing the latter has to an “all-weather” relationship. Interestingly, he notes that “If any country can bridge relations between China and India, it is likely to be Russia.” Given Russia’s position as a friend to both India and China, it’s worth considering if the Kremlin has the necessary leverage, or the interest, in bringing Asia’s two giants together.
Despite officially maintaining a policy of non-alignment since the 1950s, India grew close to the Soviet Union in the 1960s and ended up signing a treaty of friendship in 1971. Today, India, a net importer of defense equipment, relies on Russia-manufactured defense hardware for the bulk of its needs. More recently, India has generally been unenthusiastic about Western efforts to isolate Russia for its actions in Ukraine earlier this year, including the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Russia, meanwhile, has generally been proactive about maintaining its relationship with India in good stead.
In recent years, Moscow has also made a special effort to maintain good relations with China as well. The two countries share a close bilateral relationship, cooperate in multilateral fora (including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization), and recently concluded a landmark $400 billion dollar natural gas deal. Relations between Beijing and Moscow have been on a steady trajectory towards strategic convergence since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both nations are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and seek to challenge the established Western order in different ways.
Meanwhile, the relationship between India and China, however, is marred by territorial disputes and strategic mistrust, at least from the Indian side, which has been somewhat of a constant since the two fought a war in 1962. Following India’s historic elections this year that granted an outright parliamentary majority to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, China is trying its hand at a foreign policy “reset.” China has shown an interest in centering its bilateral relationship with India on economic issues which it sees as an undercapitalized area for cooperation with a potentially huge positive sum pay off. Meanwhile, India continues to be skeptical of China’s intentions, particularly along its disputed borders in Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.
Read the full story at The Diplomat