India Is A Trusted Partner; Limited Cooperation With Pakistan: Russia

Apr 14, 2021

Deputy Chief of the Russian mission Roman Babushkin also welcomed the recent commitment by India and Pakistan to follow the 2003 ceasefire on the Line of Control and said these are “very important steps” for regional stability.

Describing India as a “trusted partner”, Russia on Wednesday said there were no divergences or misunderstandings between the two countries and that it has “limited cooperation” with Pakistan based on “independent” relations. Deputy

Chief of the Russian mission Roman Babushkin also welcomed the recent commitment by India and Pakistan to follow the 2003 ceasefire on the Line of Control and said these are “very important steps” for regional stability.

At a joint media briefing with Babushkin, Russian ambassador Nikolay Kudashev criticised the Indo-Pacific strategy by the western countries describing it as “dangerous” and an effort to revive the cold war mentality.

Babushkin said India must be part of the process of shaping regional consensus on Afghanistan and that New Delhi and Moscow have similar approaches for the Afghan peace process.

Asked about reports of bad optics during Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov’s recent visit to India as he travelled to Islamabad from Delhi, Babushkin said Russia has independent ties with Pakistan and that it does not “target any relations against anyone”.

“We believe that there is absolutely no reason to see that there are divergences or any misunderstandings between us. It is not the case in Russia-India ties,” he said.

Kudashev said India is a trusted partner of Russia and ties between the two countries were “equal, solid, comprehensive, coherent and forwardlooking”. issues between the two sides.

The ambassador said Russia was very satisfied with the detailed discussion on a wide range of bilateral and international matters between India and Russia during Lavrov’s visit.

“It confirmed the proximity of our approaches and exceptional level of mutual understanding and trust as well as goodwill to maintain our traditional open-minded and forward-looking dialogue,” he said.

Courtesy: ET