{"id":27237,"date":"2020-06-11T13:09:21","date_gmt":"2020-06-11T07:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kashmir.today\/?p=27237"},"modified":"2020-06-11T13:09:21","modified_gmt":"2020-06-11T07:39:21","slug":"russia-and-australia-wont-interfere-in-india-china-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/?p=27237","title":{"rendered":"Russia and Australia won\u2019t interfere in India-China tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Moscow won\u2019t interfere in India-China tensions: Russian lawmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018These bilateral disputes should be dealt with bilaterally\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Representational Picture<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Russia won\u2019t \u201cinterfere\u201d and wants India and China to resolve their border dispute bilaterally, a senior Russian lawmaker said, referring to the five-week-long military standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), drawing a contrast to the U.S. offer of mediation that India declined last week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur official position is that these bilateral disputes should be dealt with bilaterally. We respect the sovereignty of India and the sovereignty of China. Russia should not interfere in these kinds of disputes\u2026 We would encourage dialogue and prevent the use of military force,\u201d said Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council (Upper House of Parliament), speaking to Indian journalists at a press meet through videoconference ahead of Russia\u2019s National Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian Ambassador to India Nikolai Kudashev had met Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla last week when the situation at the LAC was discussed. The meeting came the same day that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump and reportedly conveyed India\u2019s position that it didn\u2019t require mediation offered by Mr. Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the conversation, Mr. Modi had also welcomed an invitation from Mr. Trump to an \u201cextended\u201d G-7 summit that would include India, Russia, Australia and South Korea. Unlike New Delhi, however, Mr. Kosachev said that Moscow has many misgivings about the invitation, which it sees as an attempt to build an \u201canti-China\u201d front. Mr. Kosachev said the Russian government would take a final decision once its doubts had been cleared, including on whether India and Russia and other invitees would be accepted by G-7 nations as \u201cequal members\u201d of a new group, or whether they would simply be \u201cspecial guests, with no power to influence outcomes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe problem with this invitation to the G-7 format is that Mr. Trump is extending it, and he doesn\u2019t have the right to expand the forum by himself,\u201d said Mr. Kosachev. \u201cMr. Trump wants to get countries together to make a joint position on China. I don\u2019t think given our specific relations with China, or India\u2019s relations with China, that this [would work]\u2026 I am against building a bloc that is aimed at another country,\u201d Mr. Kosachev added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked about the U.S.-led efforts for an Afghanistan reconciliation process that Russia backs, which would bring the Afghanistan government\u2019s representatives and the Taliban leadership to the table later this month, Mr. Kosachev said India should \u201ccontribute to the political dialogue\u201d as well. Last month, India was a notable exception, as the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a meeting of special envoys on Afghanistan from Russia, Pakistan, Iran and China. Mr. Kosachev said he was surprised by the decision and he supports India\u2019s inclusion in the format as a \u201cneighbour state\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIndia has a common border with Afghanistan, so I am in favour of having India as a participant of the formats. I am surprised if India is not invited\u2026 that is not a good move. I would recommend Russia to take steps to involve India as much as possible,\u201d Mr. Kosachev said, adding that while he understood India\u2019s decision not to engage with the Taliban, the reality was that the Taliban is an \u201cinfluential player in Afghanistan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Russia, the Taliban is still classified as an extremist movement. But at the same time we are realists and we understand Taliban is an influential player in Afghanistan, so if you exclude them from political dialogue you will not reach a solution,\u201d Mr. Kosachev said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Russian Law Maker<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Won\u2019t interfere in India- China border issue, says Australian envoy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Representational Picture<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It a matter for China and India to resolve it bilaterally\u2019<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia would not \u201cinterfere\u201d in the ongoing situation between India and China at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), said its High Commissioner to India, indicating a different line from the U.S. on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison are due to speak at a \u201cvirtual\u201d bilateral summit on Thursday, where the two sides are expected to strengthen strategic cooperation and announce a Mutual Logistics Supply Agreement (MLSA) for the reciprocal use of each other\u2019s bases and other military facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn relation to the border issues\u2026that is a matter for China and India to resolve, not a matter for Australia to interfere with. What we have seen in the past week when others have sought to step in, it has been made clear that India and China will resolve it bilaterally,\u201d said High Commissioner Barry O\u2019Farrell, in a reference to U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s offer to mediate, as well as a U.S. official\u2019s reference to the LAC situation as proof that China poses a \u201cthreat\u201d to its neighbours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia and China are currently are locked in tensions as well over a range of issues, from trade and the coronavirus pandemic to China\u2019s moves in the South China Sea. However, the envoy made it clear that the issues would be kept separate from India\u2019s current tensions over the Chinese army action on the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about the summit on Thursday, which has been scheduled six months after it was cancelled in January last because of forest fires in Australia and then put off due to the pandemic, Mr. O\u2019Farrell said the relationship would reach a \u201chistoric high\u201d after the Prime Ministers\u2019 discussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe mutual LSA makes it easier for defence forces of both countries to conduct exercises like AUSINDEX and to facilitate access to each other\u2019s bases,\u201d Mr. O\u2019Farrell told journalists in Delhi. \u201cIt is the sort of a relationship we have with many of our allies,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Australia had submitted a draft of the MLSA soon after India signed a similar \u201cfoundational agreement\u201d with the U.S. in 2016, and it has taken nearly four years to negotiate. India was likely to sign LSAs with Russia, Japan and the U.K. as well in the near future, said officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amongst a number of other agreements due to be announced during Thursday\u2019s summit are COVID19-related cooperation at regional and multilateral institutions, said the High Commissioner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Australian Envoy<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With inputs from <\/em>The Hindu<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moscow won\u2019t interfere in India-China tensions: Russian lawmaker \u2018These bilateral disputes should be dealt with bilaterally\u2019 Russia won\u2019t \u201cinterfere\u201d and wants India and China to resolve their border dispute bilaterally, a senior Russian lawmaker said, referring to the five-week-long military standoff between the Indian and Chinese troops at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), drawing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-union-territory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmir.watch\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}