While China and India are enemies of each other, Russia has very good relations with these two countries. When Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Russia last month, some feared that the old friend’s equation with India could deteriorate. But some people there said something else.
The Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolay Patrushev, has recently met the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. In this meeting, he discussed bilateral cooperation with PM Modi for mutual interests. According to experts, western countries have not given much importance to this meeting. But this meeting is important in many ways. Nicole had personally met PM Modi besides the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Russia is dependent on India and China
Not much information has been shared about this meeting, but if sources are to be believed, meeting PM Modi is difficult. So clearly whatever happened must have been very important. Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Russia’s economy is completely dependent on trade with India and China.
Due to sanctions imposed by Western countries, it was necessary for Russian President Vladimir Putin to create a parallel economy that was not dependent on the dollar and also maintain strong ties. After the attack on Ukraine, Russia’s trade in Chinese yuan increased rapidly. According to statistics, it has increased phenomenally up to 80 times.
Yuan became Putin’s choice
In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last month, Putin described the yuan as his currency of choice and planned to rely on the yuan for a long time. Putin had said, ‘We are in favor of promoting the use of the Chinese yuan between Russia and the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Russia’s new foreign policy
Interestingly, along with Security Council Secretary Patrushev, the President of Russia’s state oil company Rosneft also came to meet PM Modi. They have signed an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation to increase the supply of oil. Amidst all this, in a separate meeting in India, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Parliament Duma has issued a common digital currency under the leadership of India, China and Russia. At the same time, in the new foreign policy issued by Russia, India and China have been described as their close allies.
Big challenge before Russia
The biggest problem Putin will face is that India still views China with suspicion. India has absolutely no confidence in China due to long-standing skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). In such a situation, it is also very unlikely that the Indian government will be willing to cooperate with China to create a parallel economy free of dollars.