India, China Cooperating With Russia in Recognition of Moscow's Importance in Maintaining Security
© Sputnik / Maxim Blinov
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After Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine on February 24, countries became divided between Moscow's supporters and opponents, but many nations remain neutral.
ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - India and China have continued their active cooperation with Russia despite the Ukraine conflict and subsequent Western sanctions against the country due to their understanding of Moscow's key role in the international arena and its importance in ensuring global security, experts told Sputnik.
"I believe sanctions are not working. What you create is the resilience to sanctions. If you want to disengage Russia from the global community, from the international stage, you will be making a big mistake because Russia is critical in a number of issues: be it food security, be it in the case of energy," Pankaj Jha, a professor at India's Jindal Global University, said.
In this regard, New Delhi, which assumed the G20 Presidency from Indonesia in December, expects to see Russia more engaged in the negotiations within the G20 format and at other levels of international cooperation, the expert told Sputnik, adding that it would help other states to better understand Moscow's position on Ukraine.
Speaking about Russia-India relations, Jha also recalled that India was the only major nation friendly with Washington that had not condemned Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine or imposed any sanctions on the country. Given its good relations with both Russia and the United States, India is capable of preventing the Ukraine conflict from influencing international ties and promoting an unbiased perspective of the situation, the expert said.
"In 2021, [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin himself said that the West was touching those troubled areas within Ukraine itself and then we see this kind of crisis, which means he was forewarning the West with regard to frictions and, therefore, if you equate both sides, I think the West is equally at fault in this conflict," Jha told Sputnik.
22 December 2022, 23:34
The Indian expert's words about the importance of Russia's role in ensuring global security and West's unrealistic expectations about sanctions turning the clock back on the country's development, were also supported by Nelson Wong, the vice chairman of the Shanghai Center for RimPac Strategic and International Studies.
"You have to face the reality that Russia cannot be defeated. Russia is one of the most important countries in the world and you have to engage with Russia," the Chinese expert said.
In his interview with Sputnik, Wong regarded the personal friendship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, as exceptionally impactful today. It has been only three months since the two leaders held their most recent talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Uzbekistan, but, according to Russian media, they already plan to hold more negotiations in late December to discuss the events of 2022, Wong added.
"We never know what could be on the agenda of these talks but it could be basically talking about matters that concern both sides. There are plenty of pressing issues," the Chinese expert said.
Even if it seems that Beijing has tried to publicly distance itself from Moscow due to the Ukraine conflict, behind the diplomatic appearances, China continues to be Russia's reliable partner, ready to lend a shoulder when the need arises, Wong said.
"Most people in China really appreciate that Russia understands China's position when it comes to the war in Ukraine because China's economy is absolutely interwoven with the rest of the world. It is not like taking a side or supporting someone. It took China a little bit of time to form its position on the situation but behind the scenes it has always remained a reliable partner," the Chinese expert told Sputnik.
In addition, the current US-China confrontational trade relations, their disagreements over a number of issues, including Taiwan, technology and human rights, create additional incentives to Russia's economic pivot to the Asian region, Wong said.
In particular, bilateral trade between Russia and China has rapidly bounced back after a brief halt in the spring. As a result, China has overtaken Europe to become Russia's biggest partner. The trade volume between the two nations is expected to reach $185 billion in 2022, according to the Chinese expert.
"In the near future, Russia is likely to continue facing a tough confrontation with the West. Therefore, Asia will remain one of the priority areas of Russia's foreign economic and political activity," Wong told Sputnik.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, following calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. The world has split into those who support Moscow and accuse NATO of provoking the conflict, and those who condemn Russia's actions and impose sanctions on the country, while also ramping up their financial and military aid to Kiev. Some countries have also taken a neutral position on this issue.
