Senior officials of India and China gave very clear messages to Russia for the first time, calling for an end to the war in Ukraine during the SCO Summit in Uzbekistan and the UN General Assembly and Security Council meetings in New York. After the partial mobilization decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin, it has been started to wonder whether India and China will change their stances towards Russia or not and the future of tripartite collaboration.
From this point of view, Ankara Center for Crisis and Policy Studies (ANKASAM) presents the views it received from Rohan Mukherjee, the Asst. Prof. at the London School of Economics and Political Science, in order to evaluate Putin’s determined steps to continue the war in Ukraine and its reflections on cooperation with Russia, India and China.
1. Do you think that Russia will react negatively to India and China due to their opposition about the Ukraine War during the UN Security Council meeting?
China and India’s purchase of Russian exports is in part keeping the Russian economy going and helping Moscow withstand Western sanctions. It is unlikely that Russia will risk upsetting this arrangement by reacting negatively.
2. Do you think that there is still a way to be taken in cooperation between Russia, China and India? Or can we say that this tripartite cooperation reached its peak and then started to decline?
The three countries will continue to share a preference for a multipolar international order. If Russia ceases hostilities and begins negotiations with Ukraine, China and India would not be averse to continuing trilateral cooperation. It should be remembered that despite the ongoing standoff in Ladakh between India and China, RIC trilateral meetings of foreign ministers took place in 2020 and 2021.
3. After India and China’s objections during the UN Security Council meeting, do you think that Russia can reduce its support for India and China? Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Denis Alipov stated that “the border standoff between India and China is a bilateral matter between the two countries in which Russia did not want to get involved.” How should we interpret these words?
This has been Russia’s position since the beginning of the standoff. While it has urged a resolution, it has also said the matter is a bilateral one between China and India.
Dr. Rohan Mukherjee
Rohan Mukherjee is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He received his PhD from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. He holds an MPA in International Development from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and a BA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from the University of Oxford. His regional focus is on the Asia-Pacific, particularly how major powers such as India, China, the United States, and Japan, and smaller states in South and Southeast Asia, manage the regional effects of global transitions.
