The Russian Embassy in India has denounced the article penned by Dr Subramanian Swamy in the Sunday Guardian on October 31, 2020, in which he argued that Russia is no longer a friend that India could trust in its conflict against China.
A statement titled “Russia is not just a friend-but a soulmate of India” was released by the Russian Embassy, which was also shared on its official social media pages. In its statement, the Russian Embassy has expressed its “regrets” over Swamy’s article, adding that it provided a misleading view of the true understanding of the entire course of development, current state and prospects of the Russian-Indian strategic partnership.
‘Russia is not just a friend – but a soulmate of India’ @RusEmbIndia ‘notes with regret the article with defiant title “Russia is not a friend of India” by Mr Subramanian Swamy in the Sunday Guardian on October 31, 2020.’ @IndEmbMoscow @mfa_russia @MEAIndia @StratNewsGlobal pic.twitter.com/7yxTHJv8N1
— amitabh p revi (@amitabhprevi) November 3, 2020
Assailing the article, the Russian embassy’s statement read that the essay “demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the modern Russian realities that equates relevant assessments in the article with the geopolitically motivated groundless and biased approach by some Western news agencies”.
It further added that Russia enjoys productive and trusted relations with all the political parties in the country. Be it Congress, when the early bilateral relations between the two countries were established or the current ruling regime BJP, under the aegis of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a rule the Declaration of the Strategic Partnership was signed between the two countries, the post said.
The Russian Embassy also mentioned that under the “Make in India” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives, the two countries are on an unparalleled joint endeavour in the nuclear power sector or trusted defence cooperation with real technology transfer, advanced localization of production and even cooperation with third countries.
“Coinciding global priorities make Russia and India truly likeminded. Our multilateral partnership in the framework of #G20, #BRICS, #SCO, etc. is based on the solid ground of our common priority to proceed towards just and the equal multipolar world with the central role of the United Nations and international law as well as undivided security,” the statement further read.
Regarding the Indo-Sino border standoff, Russia encouraged the two countries to resolve the dispute through constructive dialogue. The statement noted that disagreements between India and China have provided some “dishonest elements” with an opportunity to drive a wedge between the bilateral relations.
“So, the Russian-Indian ties are unique, and they cannot be harmed by a single misleading article, which by no means have any link to the reality and, of course, doesn’t reflect any official position,” the statement concluded.
Russia will align with China to revive its power and prestige: Dr Subramanian Swamy
In his scathing article, Dr Subramanian Swamy raised apprehensions over Russia’s commitment to friendship with India. Swamy alleged in his article that Russia can no longer be trusted as it sees collaboration with China as the only path to the revival of Kremlin’s prestige and power.
Swamy claims in his article that Russia is a “junior partner” of China, stating that Russia acts keeping in mind the interests of China. Swamy added that India’s growing reliance on Russia for the weapons is dangerous, considering the Chinese electronics used in their making and the close bond shared between Russian president Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Recently, Russia had also announced that “could enter into a military alliance with China”.
The firebrand politician also sharply noted that Nehru was fooled into believing that Russia was India’s closest ally. “Nehru was fooled into thinking that leaders in Moscow were permanent friends, but in fact, we Indians were more like “Pavlovian dogs”, that is, those who complied on signals from Moscow,” Swamy stated.
Swamy asserts that if India has a conflict with China, it can no longer trust Russia. He said that the dream of isolating China through Russia is myopic and concluded that “Russia is no more a friend of India in the sense of standing up with India against China”.
