NEW DELHI: On ‘Talking Point‘, Roman Babushkin, Russia’s Deputy Chief of Mission(DCM) to India in discussion with StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi.
Mr Babushkin highlights the outcomes of the annual India-Russia Summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin in Delhi on December 6, the first 2+2 between the Foreign and Defence Ministers and other bilateral and delegation level talks. The DCM outlines Russia’s foreign policy of “just, equal, predictable multipolarity based on the central role of the United Nations charter and international law”, how Russia’s relations are “not targeted against any other country”, the “scale and depth of the India partnership that’s now more about sharing of sophisticated technologies, joint development and research, co-production and increasing levels of localisation.” He also answers questions about the S-400, S-500 and S-550 air missile defence systems, export of the Brahmos supersonic missile to third countries, how Moscow views India’s growing ties and diversification towards the U.S., the India-China clashes and Moscow’s partnership with Beijing, whether there is any coming together of India’s Indo-Pacific and Russia’s Asia-Pacific policies, the Russian Far East and the Vladivostok-Chennai maritime corridor.
DCM Babushkin also expresses Russia’s deep condolences over the death of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat and twelve others and offers “whatever assistance the Indian side would require in the investigation” of the Russian Mi-17V5 crash.
