Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with visiting Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar in Moscow. This time, Russia and India have reached a lot of cooperation, and even want to establish a sea route between Chennai and Vladivostok (Vladivostok). Now the Indian ships will be able to sail next to China and Russia in one go.
But Lavrov's expression was not easy, pursing his lips and frowning said a lot.
(Jaishankar meets with Lavrov in Moscow)
At a press conference after the meeting between Russia and India, Lavrov said that the parties discussed plans for joint production of military equipment and are ready to cooperate in the manufacture of weapons. The Russian side revealed the prospects for military and technical cooperation between the two countries, including issues such as joint production of modern weapons, and made "concrete progress." In addition, Lavrov said that the Russian side respects India's desire to diversify military and technical ties and is ready to support the Indian side's "Make in India" initiative in military products.
In addition, Russia and India agreed to take a series of measures to expand cooperation, including an international north-south transport corridor connecting Russia and India by ship, rail and road, and even allowing Indian ships to fly to Vladivostok in one go.
You know, in the first half of this year, Russia agreed to make Vladivostok a transit port for China's domestic trade, and this move is a key measure to further strengthen trade ties between China and Russia in the Far East. Now India is also eyeing this route, which is equivalent to saying that India will also get a share of the dividends of Sino-Russian cooperation in the Far East. In this regard, the Russian side actually agreed, because at the same time as China and Russia were expanding cooperation, the Russian side provided India with a feasibility report on the route from Chennai to Vladivostok.
(Russia opens sea route between Chennai and Vladivostok for India)
So why is Russia so active in India's participation in Sino-Russian cooperation? In fact, it may not have a handle, but Russia is now in urgent need of India's help. From the perspective of the Russian side, after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, India did not condemn Russia, which is more important for the Russian side. And Russia needs India to buy Russian oil and weapons, and the money earned will be invested in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
For India, there has been friction in its relations with the United States, Canada and other Western countries recently. Because of the shooting of a Sikh leader in Canada, it is widely believed in Western countries that there is a "credible link" with "Indian government agents". Now India and Russia are close and have something to do with it. Moreover, the Indian side does not want to see a "weakened" Russia, after all, India is also pursuing the establishment of a multi-level world pattern.
However, how to settle the cooperation between Russia and India is a headache, and Lavrov's expression says it all. From his serious expression, it could be seen that this negotiation was a difficult one.
(Russia-Ukraine conflict)
In fact, as early as a few months ago, Lavrov said that the Russian side has accumulated a lot of rupees that have not yet found a use, probably billions. And these stranded funds are a headache for Russia, in which Russia said it would be best to find promising areas for investment in India. In other words, it is not only the Russian ruble that is difficult to spend, but also the Indian rupee that is even more difficult to spend, and it is better to convert the actual assets at the point in India, and the premise is that it is reliable.
In fact, as we all know, the US dollar is anchored by oil, high technology and military power, and China's renminbi is backed by industrial products from the entire industry chain, neither of which is currently available in India. This can be seen from the data on Sino-Russian trade. The important reason why Russia is now implementing RMB settlement is that Russia can spend the RMB earnestly. Russia was kicked out of the dollar settlement system, and the rupee is not easy to use, so the Russian side is willing to cooperate with India, but when it comes to cooperation, it must involve means of payment, which is a headache for the Russian side.
The internationalization of the Indian rupee does not have objective conditions, but the heart is higher than the sky, Russia does not want the rupee, so it is simply replaced with the dirham of the United Arab Emirates, but the Russian seller insists on using RMB, so every time India and Russia negotiate, it does not look easy.
(Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi responds to US "assassination conspiracy" allegations)
However, from an objective point of view, even with many practical difficulties, India and Russia have reached a lot of cooperation, because each takes what it needs. There is a saying in China that strategically despises the enemy and tactically values the enemy. For India, many people in the country are biased, but in fact, we should not take it too lightly, at present, India can independently build nuclear weapons, fighter jets, tanks, nuclear submarines, satellites, lunar vehicles, cars and warships, and the economy is also the fifth largest economy in the world. There are also objective reasons why Russia wants to get closer to India.
As far as India is concerned, it has to see that it has turned very quickly, which ordinary countries cannot learn, and as soon as Western countries want to hold India accountable for the "assassination", India will be able to immediately turn the wind to Russia. And we also have to look at the relationship between China and Russia calmly, international geopolitics is never black and white, and it is not the enemy of any enemy is my friend, international politics is still interest-oriented, and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Russia is okay, but if it wants to increase the destabilizing factor, China will also turn around in time.