Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister in New Delhi amid the Ukraine war. This meeting of old friends is blowing in the eyes of new friends. Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after meeting US and British officials in New Delhi. Referring to India, the Russian foreign minister said, “We are friends.” Unlike the American and British officers, Lavrov neither gave any advice nor taunted India.
The Russian foreign minister praised India’s stand, saying as a friend, New Delhi has not taken a “unilateral approach” to the Ukraine war. Lavrov stressed on increasing cooperation between India and Russia. According to the Russian foreign minister, his country will increase the use of non-Western currency in international trade. Before Lavrov, British and American officials tried to pressure India not to dilute the dollar-based financial transaction system. The language used by the American and British officers was not acceptable to the Indian officers.
Trustworthy friendship of Russia and India
Since the Ukraine war that began on 24 February 2022, India and China are the only two major powers that have not criticized Russia. The friendship between India and Russia is old and deep. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the Soviet Union had given a clear warning that if any third country entered the war, the Soviet Union would not watch the spectacle. At that time America and China were on the side of Pakistan. Even after independence, Russia has helped India a lot in the field of steel factories, space program and nuclear power technology. India still buys maximum weapons from Russia. While America has given modern weapons to Pakistan for a long time, Russia has provided Sukhoi, MiG-like aircraft and T-series tanks to India.
India-US relations became friendly in two decades
However, in the last two decades, India-US relations have become very friendly. At the same time, due to the delay in some defense deals, India started reducing its dependence on Russia by buying weapons from western countries. But despite this, India still buys more than 50 percent of its weapons from Russia. Dependence on Russia is also very high for parts and servicing of old weapons. At present, Russia is also under a lot of pressure due to the Ukraine war. Russia has to find new options to keep its economy running. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, both countries can trade oil, weapons and other goods under the rupee-ruble system. “We are ready to supply whatever India wants to buy,” Lavrov said.
India’s mediation accepted by Russia
Referring to India’s mediation, according to Lavrov, if India mediates between Russia and Ukraine, then Russia is agreeable to it. But at present there is no such proposal from India side. According to Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar, India wants a peaceful solution to this dispute. “Differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, respecting international law, the UN Charter and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations,” the Indian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Don’t care about US sanctions
Both the countries are discussing supporting the rupee-ruble payment mechanism. Lavrov expressed confidence that India and Russia would bypass the “artificial barriers” created by international sanctions imposed on Russia and that Russia would be ready to provide any goods that India would buy.
Amidst all this controversy, India has recently bought crores of liters of crude oil from Russia at cheap prices. The Government of India says that this decision has been taken keeping in mind the interests of the Indian public. Terming Western sanctions as one-sided, the Russian foreign minister said that his country can overcome such illegal sanctions together with India. After meeting Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Lavrov called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After talks with Modi, Lavrov returned to Russia on Friday evening.