Geeta Mohan | Posted by Sonalee Borgohain
New Delhi, November 8, 2017 | UPDATED 05:32 IST
Kudashev endorsed the OBOR initiative as one which Russia sees as a purely "economic" venture rather than the "political" nature of it as seen by India.
Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev on Tuesday said that there might be differences related to "routes" in the One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) initiative but they would have to be dealt with bilaterally by India and China. "Russia will not interfere in these matters," he said while speaking at an event Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF).
Kudashev, however, endorsed the initiative as one which Russia sees as a purely "economic" venture rather than the "political" nature of it as seen by India.
"As for OBOR, there is space for development of all regions. But for us, first and foremost, this is an economic venture. And we would favour two sides like India and China coming to an understanding bilaterally for the differences in route, use different means of communication and find ways and means to solve the problem. You are wise enough to do it yourself rather than with Russia's interference," said Kudashev.
He was speaking on a report released by VIF to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Russia and India. The Russian envoy spelt out the unique relations that the two nations share- trust and historical strategic partnership.
"The special and privileged partnership between Moscow and New Delhi rests upon mutual trust, coinciding key geopolitical interests, similar economic and social goals, as well as deep-rooted affection between our nations," said Kudashev.
India in the recent past has been concerned about Russia's growing engagement with Pakistan. The Russian envoy allayed India's fears by reminding the audience of the fact that Indo-Russia ties are "second to none".
"Our position on counter-terrorism is almost identical to that of India's. We stand united on majority of issues such as Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). As for Pakistan, we are supporting the counter-terrorism effort in areas such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia. That is our limited relationship with Pakistan. It can't be compare to our relationship with India with whom we have a strategic partnership", he said.
While there are differences between India and China on their new territorial and strategic moves, Russia has been trying to play a key role in binding the three nations together to keep the United States at bay.
The coming Russia-India-China Foreign Ministerial Meeting will be crucial to see if the three make headway on issues of divergent view points or will there be a deadlock.
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