China backs Russia's initiative to revive RIC troika

Beijing: China on Thursday expressed its support for Russia's initiative to revive the dormant Russia-India-China (RIC) troika, saying the trilateral cooperation not only serves the interest of the three countries but also the security and stability of the region and the world.

Russian news portal Izvestia on Thursday quoted Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as saying that Moscow expects the resumption of the RIC format and is negotiating on this issue with Beijing and New Delhi.

"This topic appears in our negotiations with both of them. We are interested in making this format work, because these three countries are important partners, besides the founders of BRICS,” Rudenko said.

"Therefore, the absence of this format, in my opinion, looks inappropriate. In this regard, we expect that the countries will agree to resume work within the framework of the RIC -- of course, when relations between these states reach a level that allows them to work in a trilateral format," he said.

Asked for his reaction to Rudenko's comments at a media briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Thursday said, "China-Russia-India cooperation not only serves the respective interests of the three countries but also helps uphold peace, security, stability and progress in the region and the world”.

China stands ready to maintain communication with Russia and India on advancing the trilateral cooperation, he said.

The Russian and Chinese interests in the revival of the RIC followed the recent visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to China to take part in the SCO Foreign Ministers meeting, during which he held talks with top Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Joint work in the RIC format was stalled, first because of the coronavirus and later by the India-China military standoff at Eastern Ladakh in 2020, Lavrov said last year.

The Ladakh standoff resulted in the freeze of India-China relations for over four years. The bilateral ties revived after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Kazan last year on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

Since then, there has been a steady dialogue process between the two countries to normalise relations.

Jaishankar’s recent trip came after the visits of NSA Ajit Doval and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to China.

Lavrov said in May that Russia, which shares close ties with India and China, is “genuinely interested” in the revival of the RIC format.

He said the trilateral mechanism initiated by Russia's former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov resulted in 20 meetings between the three countries at various levels.

The three countries were the prime movers of the formation of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and the New Development Bank (NDB) of the grouping, which now includes 10 members.

A host of issues, including the growing rivalry between India and China and Beijing’s persistent backing of its all-weather ally Pakistan in its anti-India acts, diluted the RIC's relevance and importance.

Of late, there is increasing Russian and Chinese interest in the revival of RIC as India has become a member of Quad - the emerging alliance of the US, India, Japan and Australia, which is seen by Beijing as a grouping aimed at containing its rise.

For its part, Russia is concerned over the emerging closer ties between India and the European Union in the backdrop of its continued war against Ukraine, according to the Russian analysts.

Lidia Kulik, a senior researcher at the Centre for Indian Studies at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that any format of cooperation in Eurasia is useful because the continent has long been tired of endless conflicts.

For India, relations with Russia traditionally play an important role, given that New Delhi and Beijing have problems. Moscow's involvement creates prospects for cooperation in the RIC format, Lidia told Izvestia.