NEW DELHI: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping are responsible leaders capable of solving the bilateral issues.
Putin said it important that “no extra-regional power” interfere in matters between the two countries. “Yes, I do know that there are some issues related to India-China relations. But, there are always a lot of issues between neighbouring countries. I know the attitude of both the Prime Minister of India and the President of China. These are very responsible people and they earnestly treat one another with the utmost respect and I believe that they will always arrive at a solution to any issue that they might face. It is important that no other extra-regional power is interfering with that,” he said.
On the Quad grouping, the Russian president said it was for Moscow to tell any country not to participate in any grouping. However, he said there should be no grouping against any country. Russia has been critical of the Quad, comprising the US, India, Japan and Australia, saying it is an effort by Washington to keep a check on Beijing’s ambitions. China, too, has expressed concerns about the grouping.
On the impact of growing Russia-China relations on Russia’s ties with India, especially on the defence and security cooperation, Putin said, “We highly appreciate such a high level of cooperation with our Indian friends. These relations are of a strategic nature.
They cover a whole range of avenues of our cooperation in economy, energy and hi-tech. In defence, and I am not just talking about the purchase of Russian arms...We have very deep profound relations with India based on trust.” Putin also asserted that India is Russia’s only partner that they are working together with on “elaborating and manufacturing, especially in India, advanced weapon systems and technologies but that is not where our cooperation ends because our cooperation is multifaceted.”