Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi spoke to his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov after latter’s invasion in Ukraine. He said that Beijing “understands” Moscow’s “legitimate security concern”. The comment underlined China’s broad backing to Russia on the Ukraine issue.
Although Beijing hasn’t exclusively endorsed or criticized Russia’s actions, Foreign Ministers’ comments may be interpreted as implicitly offering support. “China always respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. The Ukraine issue has a complex and specific historical latitude and longitude, and China understands Russia’s legitimate security concerns,” he said.
Chinese media effectively backed Russia and majorly focused on the coverage of NATO, portraying the whole crisis as a broader security concern for Russia. As for India, given its own strategic concerns, it has walked in the middle of a diplomatic tightrope between the US and Russia.
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“India will now be under tremendous pressure from the US and its European allies to strongly oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” a senior official said on Thursday.
Even though Russia is the largest defense supplier, in the past few years, India has substantially reduced its military shipment from Russia and it has turned to the US, Israel and France majorly for its military hardware and software requirements. Till now, India managed to ward off sanctions under the US law called CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act), which restrains countries from buying Russian military weapons.
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In the next few months, India will need to have a keen-eye on the annual exercise of PLA (People’s Liberation Army) along the 3,488 km LOC (Line of Actual Control) and be prepared for any contingencies.
Currently, the US-led NATO countries are focusing on Ukraine, and their attention has been diverted towards countering Russia. In the Indo-Pacific, this crisis will become a gateway for China to indulge into muscle-flexing along the LAC, especially in the regions of Arunachal Pradesh.
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The Ukraine crisis has reinstated the inescapable need for India to emerge out of its strategically-vulnerable position and become a self-reliant country to fulfil its military requirements.
