Russia desires improvement of India-China relations, says Russian envoy Alipov

Russia desires improvement of relations between India and China and its ties with both countries are "very wholesome", Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov said on Friday.   In an interaction with journalists, he also said the Rupee-Rouble payment mechanism between India and Russia was not working due to the "overcautious approach" of the Indian financial community. The mechanism for trade between the two countries was established to settle dues in rupees instead of US Dollars or Euros in view of the imposition of severe economic sanctions against Moscow by the West following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

To a question on Beijing's release of a so-called "standard map" laying territorial claim over Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin as well as Taiwan and South China Sea, Alipov attempted to play it down. "For your information, there are some discrepancies on the Russia-China border as well. We do not exaggerate this issue with the Chinese side. And as we have noticed, India does not exaggerate this issue as well," he said.

Asked what will be Moscow's position in case of any hostility between India and China, the envoy said Russia will "never sacrifice" its ties with New Delhi under any circumstances. On the boundary row between India and China, Alipov said Russia was very much hopeful of improvement of relations between the two countries. Describing it as a bilateral issue, he said Russia has been respectful of the positions of India as well as China.

To a question, he said Russia does not have defence relations with Pakistan. Referring to the Rupee-Rouble mechanism, Alipov said it is not working as the Indian financial community and banks are reluctant to use it fearing secondary sanctions. "The US has no leverage to disrupt such bilateral trade transactions. Still the banks are reluctant to do that," he said. The envoy said the over "cautiousness" on the part of the Indian financial community is the main reason behind the mechanism not working. "In future, it will be a successful model," he added.