New York, Sep 27: According to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, India-Russia relations have remained “very, very steady,” and “we take great care” to ensure that they are healthy. In a conversation on Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in this city, Jaishankar claimed that after the conflict in the Ukraine in February 2022, Russia’s relations with Europe and the West had been “so severely disrupted” that Moscow was now looking to Asia and other regions of the world. He noted that both the Soviet era and the post-Soviet era have occurred, adding that “the India-Russia relationship has actually held very, very steadily.” “I believe there is an understanding in both nations that needing to get along and wanting to get along has some sort of structural justification as large powers on the Asian continent. After speaking before the 78th UN General Assembly, Jaishankar said, “We take tremendous effort to make sure the partnership is working. Even though Russia is dispersed throughout both Europe and Asia, according to Jaishankar, it has traditionally viewed itself as a European force. “My expectation would be” that, he said, ostensibly alluding to the sanctions imposed by the US on Moscow as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Its relations with Europe and the West have been badly affected since 2022.According to Jaishankar, “Russia is actually turning to Asia and to other parts of the world, but primarily to Asia because that’s where there is a lot of economic activity and it is also an Asian power even though it has not always seen itself as that.” “In fact, I believe Russia will make very determined efforts to forge substitute ties, many of which will be in Asia. And this would be reflected in commerce and economy, perhaps in other areas as well. “I know that China-Russia would have a particular profile and salience in this, but I would also say that our own relationship with Russia has been extremely stable since the mid-50s,” he continued.And it’s interesting to note that over the past 70 years in world politics, practically all of the connections between the US and Russia, Russia and China, and Europe and Russia have seen significant ups and downs. Although there have been both extremely good and very awful times in that relationship, the two countries’ ties have remained remarkably stable. (Agencies)
