New Delhi: Russia is “encouraging” India and China to talk to each other but is not playing a mediatory role, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Roman Babushkin said on Tuesday, while confirming that Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar would be meeting his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Moscow that will take place on September 10.  

He also pointed out that both Asian neighbours have “strong armies and nuclear weapons”, indicating that Moscow was quite concerned over the Sino-Indian border tensions. Russia, with its close ties with both India and China, has emerged as a key player in persuading both Asian giants to engage in dialogue.

“Russia ... enjoys good ties with India and China. We hope our Indian and Chinese friends will find a mutually acceptable solution through dialogue. We will be happy to see positive results,” the senior Russian diplomat said.

Opposing any escalation of Sino-Indian border tensions, Babushkin said, “We are encouraging the countries for dialogue to expand common ground. We are supporting the principle of dialogue. We would encourage every effort (for peace). Russia promotes a political solution and a diplomatic solution.”

The Russian DCM also said that while multilateral fora like the SCO and BRICS do not permit discussion on any bilateral issue between two members, bilateral discussions can certainly take place between any two member-nations on the sidelines of such Summits.

In this context, he confirmed that Jaishankar would be meeting Wang on the sidelines of the forthcoming SCO summit at Moscow. Just recently, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had also met his Chinese counterpart in Moscow.