RIC Trilateral Meet Today; Can Russia Play A Role In Easing Sino-India Tensions?

India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is joining his Chinese and Russian counterparts at the virtual conference of the Russia-India-China trilateral on Tuesday. Though it has been clarified that bilateral issues of India and China do not make it to RIC agenda, discussion on common benefits can somewhat help normalize the frayed ties between Beijing and New Delhi.

China's President Xi Jinping (L), India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (2nd L), Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C), South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa (2nd R) (Photo by Sergio LIMA / AFP)

New Delhi: The virtual conference of RIC countries (Russia, India & China) taking place on Tuesday, assumes high significance given the tense circumstances between two of the member countries.   RIC which is a multilateral grouping of the three prominent Eurasian countries, which are also contiguous, can be a good platform for India and China to mellow down the ante, after recent hostilities along border. India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is joining his Chinese and Russian counterparts at the virtual conference of the Russia-India-China trilateral on Tuesday. Can Russia help diffuse tensions? Though it has been clarified that bilateral issues of India and China do not make it to RIC agenda, discussion of other issues and strategy for common benefits can somewhat help normalize the frayed ties between Beijing and New Delhi. The three ministers are expected to discuss the Coronavirus pandemic, a common enemy to all the three countries at the moment, and the challenges of global security, economic prosperity and the cooperation between the RIC countries in these issues, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had said. In a press interaction, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had said that RIC agenda does not involve discussing issues that relate to bilateral relations between the member countries. However, at the same time Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has reached Russia on a three-day visit in order to attend 75th Victory Day parade on June 24. As per reports, Rajnath Singh is expected to hold a series of high-level meeting with top Russian military brass. It is important to note that Russia had reached out to both India and China after the violent clashes of Galwan valley and urged them to restore peace along their border and solve the issue through dialogue. A look at the ties of the two countries with Russia: While Russia has been an age-old ally of India, of late China and Russia relations have got a boost. A virtual alliance of China and Russia has emerged due to United State’s anti-China stance and Russia’s dependence of Chinese markets for consumption. However, India and Russia friendship is decades-old. It was manifested in the 1971 war when Moscow supported the Indian Army against Pakistan, which resulted in the creation of independent Bangladesh. The terms may have been affected as now India has diversified its purchases from other countries, however India still buys a major chunk of its defence equipments from Russia. Disengagement talks on: Though the talks of disengagement from friction points are going on between India and China at military level, Russia's position will also be watched,  as it will be hosting ministers from both countries for Victory Day celebrations. Also Watch:  Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane leaves for Ladakh