Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is on an official visit to New Delhi today said the question was bigger than Ukraine and is in fact a matter of “world order” taking shape.
Lavrov, in response to a question pertaining to US pressure on India as Russia’s offensive in Ukraine continues, said that Joe Biden-led country was forcing others to ‘follow their politics’.
Earlier in the day, he also lauded the bilateral relations between India and Russia and stated that he believed that India’s foreign policies are framed based on “real, legitimate national interests.”
“These days our western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine. We do not fight anything and we appreciated that India is taking this situation in the entirety of effect and not just one-sided way,” he stated.
The Russian Foreign Minister said that ‘no pressure’ will affect the ties between India and Russia.
Lavrov said that Russia is “ready to discuss and reach mutually acceptable cooperation” if India wants to buy anything from the Russian Federation.
“I believe that Indian foreign policies are characterised by independence and the concentration on real national legitimate interests.
“The same policy is based in the Russian Federation and this makes us, as big countries, good friends and loyal partners,” the Russian foreign minister told news agency ANI in response to a question about how he saw India’s position on the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Lavrov said that India can mediate between Moscow and Kyiv as the peace talks between the two countries have so far failed to come up with solutions to end the war.
Responding to a question by ANI on the possibility of India becoming a mediator between Russia and Ukraine, he said, “India is an important country. If India sees to play that role which provides resolution of the problem…If India is with its position of a just and rational approach to international problems, it can support such process.”
Lavrov, who was in China before his visit to New Delhi, went on to add, “We will be ready to supply to India any goods which it wants to buy from us. We are ready to discuss. Russia and India have very good relations.”
Asked how Moscow can support New Delhi to meet security challenges, he said, “Talks are characterised by relations which we developed with India for many decades. Relations are strategic partnerships…This was the basis on which we have been promoting our cooperation in all areas.”
On the first day of his visit, Lavrov met his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House in the national capital.
Lavrov stated that his President, Vladimir Putin, has sent his best regards to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and added that the development of strategic partnerships has always been Moscow’s top priority. The Russian Foreign Minister’s visit comes days after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to India last week and ahead of the 2+2 dialogue set to be held between India and the US on April 11.
