Indian External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar has proclaimed that New Delhi's ties with Moscow have remained "very, very steady" for years as the former has taken "great care" of its relationship with the Eurasian nation.
"The India-Russia relationship has actually held very, very steady. Part of it is that I think there is an understanding in both countries that as big powers in the Asian continent, there is a kind of structural basis for having to get along, wanting to get along. And so we take great care to make sure the relationship is working," Jaishankar said during a discussion at the US think tank, Council on Foreign Relations, in New York.
India's Ties With Russia Solid Since 1950s
The Indian EAM emphasized that unlike other relationships in geopolitics, including Russia-China, the New Delhi-Moscow ties have never witnessed a downturn, not at least since the 1950s.
"It's interesting if you look at the last 70 years of world politics, US-Russia, Russia-China, Europe-Russia, almost every one of these relationships has had very big ups and downs. There've been very bad periods in that relationship and good periods but the India-Russia relationship has actually held very, very steady," he mentioned.
Russia's Pivot to Asia
India's top diplomat also pointed out that Russia was making a pivot to Asia as Moscow's relationship with European sovereign states and other Western countries, including the US, has been "severely disrupted" since 2022.
After President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of Moscow's special military operation against the Kiev regime in February last year, several Western nations spearheaded by the US imposed unilateral economic sanctions on Russia.
"Russia is actually turning to Asia and to other parts of the world, but primarily to Asia because that's where a lot of economic activity is and it is also an Asian power even though it has not always seen itself primarily as that," Jaishankar stated.
West's Global Influence on the Wane
His comments about India's deep relations with Russia came hours after his address at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), where he underlined that the global influence of Western nations was on the wane.
On the contrary, emerging economies like India, and Russia, amongst others were becoming the leading voices of the Global South and low-income countries.