NEW DELHI: Russia said on Wednesday that its relations with India were second to none in the world to downplay its recent joint military exercise with Pakistan, even as it stressed the need for "an open security architecture with space for all" in the backdrop of a possible India-US-Japan-Australia quadrilateral to counter an aggressive China in the Indo-Pacific region.
"I do not see any opportunity to equalise relations between Russia-India and Russia-Pakistan. Our relations with India are a privileged strategic partnership, second to no other country, while we have a normal inter-state relationship with Pakistan," said Russian ambassador Nikolay Kudashev.
Talking to journalists after the first tri-Service "Indra" military exercise between the Indian and Russian armed forces concluded in Vladivostok on Sunday, Kudashev said his country's joint exercises with Pakistan were focused only on antiterror operations.
Russia has begun to hold the "Druzba" (friendship) military exercises with Pakistan since last year, with the second edition being held at Minralney Vody in September.
"We also have a sincere desire of normal relations with Pakistan. The purpose of the drill was of anti-terror nature, to support reasonable elements in the Pakistan government to counter terror," Kudashev said.
To questions on the emerging quadrilateral, with Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono pushing for a security dialogue among Japan, US, India and Australia in the Indo-Pacific, the Russian ambassador said he favours "space" for all stakeholders in the region. "We would welcome larger, non-bloc architecture for security cooperation in the region," he said.
India, on its part, has cautiously held that it has an "open mind" to work with "like-minded countries" on issues that are "relevant" to New Delhi's interests after Japan went public with the proposal for the quadrilateral last week.
Kudashev side-stepped questions about China being all set to once again block the designation of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar as an international terrorist by the UN.
"I cannot speak for China-...it's a sovereign nation. We all are members of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), which has a common agenda to fight terrorism, drugs, crime....Let us all fight together to eradicate them," he said. Over 900 Indian military personnel, along with multi-role stealth frigate INS Satpura, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kadmatt and two IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft, participated in the major "Indra" tri-Service combat exercise with Russia from October 19 to 29.
"It was indeed a historic occasion for two of the world's greatest armed forces to join hands and successfully conduct an exercise of this magnitude with professionalism, providing an opportunity for the two forces to imbibe the best practices from each other and jointly evolve and practice drills to defeat the scourge of terror," said Integrated Defence Staff chief Lt-General Satish Dua.
"I do not see any opportunity to equalise relations between Russia-India and Russia-Pakistan. Our relations with India are a privileged strategic partnership, second to no other country, while we have a normal inter-state relationship with Pakistan," said Russian ambassador Nikolay Kudashev.
Talking to journalists after the first tri-Service "Indra" military exercise between the Indian and Russian armed forces concluded in Vladivostok on Sunday, Kudashev said his country's joint exercises with Pakistan were focused only on antiterror operations.
Russia has begun to hold the "Druzba" (friendship) military exercises with Pakistan since last year, with the second edition being held at Minralney Vody in September.
"We also have a sincere desire of normal relations with Pakistan. The purpose of the drill was of anti-terror nature, to support reasonable elements in the Pakistan government to counter terror," Kudashev said.
To questions on the emerging quadrilateral, with Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono pushing for a security dialogue among Japan, US, India and Australia in the Indo-Pacific, the Russian ambassador said he favours "space" for all stakeholders in the region. "We would welcome larger, non-bloc architecture for security cooperation in the region," he said.
India, on its part, has cautiously held that it has an "open mind" to work with "like-minded countries" on issues that are "relevant" to New Delhi's interests after Japan went public with the proposal for the quadrilateral last week.
Kudashev side-stepped questions about China being all set to once again block the designation of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammed chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar as an international terrorist by the UN.
"I cannot speak for China-...it's a sovereign nation. We all are members of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation), which has a common agenda to fight terrorism, drugs, crime....Let us all fight together to eradicate them," he said. Over 900 Indian military personnel, along with multi-role stealth frigate INS Satpura, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kadmatt and two IL-76 heavy-lift aircraft, participated in the major "Indra" tri-Service combat exercise with Russia from October 19 to 29.
"It was indeed a historic occasion for two of the world's greatest armed forces to join hands and successfully conduct an exercise of this magnitude with professionalism, providing an opportunity for the two forces to imbibe the best practices from each other and jointly evolve and practice drills to defeat the scourge of terror," said Integrated Defence Staff chief Lt-General Satish Dua.
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