India-Russia ties “under stress”, US good at “advertising” says Russian Ambassador to India

New Delhi [India], February 6 (ANI): Russia on Monday said that ties between New Delhi and Moscow are under stress because of the ongoing geopolitical shifts which accelerated last year in Europe due to crossing of red lines.

In a forum discussion in Delhi, Russian envoy Denis Alipov said that although the ties between India and Russia are not so comprehensive as of now, the relations between the two countries have always been friendly, equal, trusted and robust. Taking a sharp dig at the United States, the Russian Ambassador to India said that Russian technology is quite advanced and that Moscow doesn’t mix technology transfer with politics, unlike the US which is rather good at “advertising.”

“Sometimes it’s amusing to read about the US posting about its defense cooperation with India as it offers something exclusive. Nothing near the level of advanced technology transfer we do offer. What the US is good at though is advertising including the poor performance of Russian weapons in Ukraine,” Alipov said while speaking on Russia-India defence cooperation, adding that the level of defence cooperation between the two nations is unprecedented.

Notably, the Centre for Global India Insights (CGII) hosted a forum discussion ‘Next Steps in India-Russia Strategic Partnership: Old Friends, New Horizons’ in New Delhi today in order to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1993 Treaty of India-Russia Friendship Treaty. “Our relations have always been friendly, equal, trusted and robust. Maybe not so comprehensive as we want them to be, but still very much diversified, mutually beneficial and supportive…respecting each other’s interests and meeting core aspirations of our nations,” the Russian Ambassador said during the address.

Speaking further, he said that Russia supports India in mission Gaganyaan. The ‘Gaganyaan’ programme, is notably India’s maiden human space mission which is scheduled to take place in 2023. During his address at the forum, the Russian envoy highlighted the treaty of 1993 and stated how it became a building block of current extensive bilateral legal framework between India and Russia.

“We have formed a very rich bilateral architecture, maintain active contacts with various levels, the annual summits. There are inter-governmental commissions and inter-parliamentary commissions,” Alipov said.
He further underscored how economic cooperation was able to achieve impressive results in 2022 as mutual trade broke a record of USD 30 billion between the two countries.

Space, scientific and technological cooperation continue to remain a priority of India and Russia. The two nations continue to see cooperation in the fields of quantum and biotechnology, artificial intelligence, fundamental and applied physics and medical science as well. Moreover, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will be taking part in the G2O Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New Delhi from March 1-2, Russian news agency TASS reported citing Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.

The G20 presidency of India, according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be inclusive, ambitious, definite, and action-oriented. This year, the G20 presidency is being held by India, and the annual G20 summit is slated to take place in the national capital in September.