Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will not interfere in the “delicate” relationship between India and China, expressing confidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are committed to resolving their long-standing boundary dispute through dialogue.
Speaking during an interaction with heads of major global news agencies in St Petersburg on Thursday night, Putin described India-China ties as a sensitive and multi-layered relationship and said it would be inappropriate for Russia to intervene.
“This is a delicate, multi-faceted relationship between India and China, and interfering into them is not a good idea. Of course, we interact with both our friends, both India and China,” Putin said.
“President Xi and Prime Minister Modi are both trying to resolve all the issues of mutual interest, including the border issue,” he added.
India and China have undertaken a series of confidence-building measures over the past year to rebuild ties strained by the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes and the military standoff that followed along the Line of Actual Control.
Putin noted that Russia’s partnerships with both New Delhi and Beijing had evolved naturally and independently, stressing that Moscow’s ties with one country did not come at the expense of the other.
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“Relations between Russia and India do not disturb China, our relations with China do not disturb India,” he said.
The Russian leader also recalled the origins of the Russia-India-China (RIC) framework, saying he had once proposed a meeting of leaders from the three countries in Russia, laying the groundwork for a mechanism that later contributed to the emergence of broader multilateral cooperation, including BRICS.
“At one point, I suggested that leaders of India, China meet in Russia and that's how Russia-India-China was established. We had things to talk about, to agree upon,” Putin said.
Touching on India-Pakistan relations, Putin said Russia was aware of the complexities surrounding issues between the two neighbours but refrained from detailed comments.
Responding to a question on China's close defence ties with Pakistan, he said he did not believe Islamabad was under Beijing's control.
“Pakistan is a large country which has multi-faceted ties with different countries,” Putin said, while acknowledging that cooperation with China remained important for Pakistan.
Russia has consistently maintained that India and China should resolve their border issues bilaterally and has repeatedly expressed support for stable and friendly relations between the two Asian powers.
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