JOIN USIndia hopes stand-off with China will end soon, not overshadow BRICS, SCO summits in Russia
India has conveyed to Russia that it expects an early end to its military stand-off with China for a greater success of the forthcoming BRICS and SCO summits, which President Vladimir Putin will host a couple of months later with both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping likely to attend.
With Moscow quietly holding back-channel talks with both India and China to help the two neighbours resolve the continuing stand-off along the disputed boundary between them, New Delhi has conveyed to the Russian Government that an “early and complete” withdrawal of the front-line troops by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) from the face-off scenes in eastern Ladakh would help set the stage for a greater success of the BRICS and the SCO summits.
A source in New Delhi told the DH that while India would surely take part in both the BRICS and the SCO summits, it would expect that the stand-off between its army and the Chinese PLA would end soon without casting a shadow over the forthcoming multilateral conclaves to be hosted by Russia.
The annual summits of the BRICS (a bloc comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) this year were initially scheduled to be held at St. Petersburg in Russia in July. The Russian Government, however, postponed both the summits in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Moscow is currently planning to hold the summits in October. Though Putin is keen to host Modi, Xi and other BRICS and SCO leaders in St. Petersburg, the summits may also be held through video conference if the pandemic does not abate by then.
New Delhi of late had discussions with Moscow about preparations for the forthcoming summits as well as about the continuing stand-off along the India-China LAC.
Foreign Secretary, Harsh V Shringla, on August 4 had talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Igor Morgulov, over the phone. A spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi later said that they had discussed the BRICS and SCO summits and exchanged views on “various regional and international issues of mutual interests”. He, however, did not provide details of the discussion between Shringla and Morgulov.
Moscow is currently planning to hold the summits in October. Though Putin is keen to host Modi, Xi and other BRICS and SCO leaders in St. Petersburg, the summits may also be held through video conferences, if the pandemic does not abate by then.
New Delhi of late had discussions with Moscow about preparations for the forthcoming summits, as well as about the continuing stand-off along the India-China LAC.
Foreign Secretary, Harsh V Shringla, on August 4 had talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Igor Morgulov, over the phone. A spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in New Delhi later said that they had discussed the BRICS and the SCO summits and exchanged views on “various regional and international issues of mutual interests”. He, however, did not provide details of the discussion between Shringla and Morgulov.
Shringla on August 5 also had talks with Moscow’s envoy to New Delhi, Nikolay Kudashev.
New Delhi drove home the point during its recent engagements with Moscow that since India and China were members of both the BRICS and the SCO, the military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two might overshadow the summits. While the stand-off is a bilateral issue for India and China to resolve between themselves, an “early and complete” withdrawal of the troops from the face-off scenes and de-escalation of tension between the two BRICS and SCO members would surely help make the ambience more cordial and the summits more effective and productive, another source in New Delhi said.
Russia has been publicly maintaining that India and China should resolve the stand-off through bilateral talks. It, however, has been quietly in touch with both the nations and has been trying to defuse tension between them.
China’s aggressive moves to unilaterally alter the status quo along its disputed boundary with India triggered the stand-off in early May. The two sides early last month mutually agreed on a process of “disengagement” or phased withdrawal of the front-line troops from the face-off scenes. It, however, remained stalled for the past three weeks, particularly because the Chinese PLA declined to withdraw troops completely from several areas along the LAC, including Depsang Y junction, Gogra Post and the northern bank of the Pangong Tso.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar may visit Moscow next month for a meeting of the BRICS Foreign Ministers. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is also likely to attend the meet, which would be hosted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Jaishankar did join Lavrov and Wang for a Russia-India-China (RIC) video conference on June 23 – just a few days after the violent face-off between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA in Galwan Valley resulted in casualties on both sides and escalated tension between the two nations.
Soon after the June 15 clash in Galwan Valley, Moscow had got in touch with both New Delhi and Beijing to make sure that the tension between India and China does not cast a shadow on the pre-scheduled video conference among the RIC Foreign Ministers.