Former top foreign policy bureaucrat Kanwal Sibal has come down heavily on two experts for suggesting that an expanding China-Russia relationship could affect ties between New Delhi and Moscow in the long-run.
In her column titled "India can’t ignore Russia-China bonhomie. Pursue CNP with a grand strategy", Rao argued that Moscow and Beijing were bound together by their "fundamental disregard for international law and the United Nations Charter".
Pointing towards the
four-year long Sino-India border dispute, the author opined that Russia was doing the same to its neighbours as China was doing to India.
"Russia would never do that to India, but it is doing that to its neighbours. And for continuing to do so, it needs China", rather than it's South Asian partner, she wrote. Rao believes, that it may sound discomforting, but "that is how the cunning of history is unfolding".
The criticism of Rao's statement was backed by several social media users, some of who questioned the author for writing "blatant stuff against India's allies".
Ex-diplomat also got into a social media exchange with Professor Sreeram Chaulia, the dean of Jindal School of International Affairs (JSIA), after he came to the athour's defence.
He further questioned Chaulia over his other views that "handing over Afghanistan (by the US) to the Taliban* was in India's national interest" and that "building-up China" by the West over the years had helped New Delhi.
The ex-foreign secretary said that Indian foreign policy should not be made by "befuddled fellows" in the government who have no idea of the state's interest.
In another social media post in reaction to Chaulia's comment, he underlined that it was futile for India to turn its back on an "old friend" Russia which has never harmed the state's interests.
"Diplomacy is also based on elementary common sense. There will be those who will like to cosy up to the new friend for some benefit they can get and be willing to vilify the old friend. We have examples before us. Dinosaurs have been replaced by mammals. Amongst them are also pet dogs, who wag their tails for potential treats and weasels too," the former diplomat concluded his argument.
Despite the western sanctions against Moscow due to the Ukraine conflict, India and Russia are expanding the scope of bilateral relationship beyond traditional realms of defence to focus more on the trade, which hit a record of $65 billion in 2023-24.
Accroding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, New Delhi's decision to source
Russian oil in spite of
western pressure was taken in the interest of Indian consumer.
Analysts have forecast that Moscow would continue to remain a top supplier of crude to New Delhi, which seeks to become the world's third biggest economy by 2029, in coming months.