By IANS,
New Delhi : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to China has been noted in strategic circles in India, with a BJP MP saying Russia’s increasing cooperation with China and Pakistan should be “a matter of concern” to India.
“In a post-cold war era, Russia’s increasing cooperation with China and Pakistan is a development that India can’t ignore and its implications on our security must be a matter of concern for us,” Tarun Vijay, national spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party and a Rajya Sabha member, said here in a statement.
Alluding to Putin’s just concluded high profile three-day visit to China, Vijay said that India should keep “a vigilant watch over changing geopolitical equations”.
During the visit, Russia and China struck 16 economic and trade cooperation deals worth more than $7 billion in new energy, mining, machinery, vehicle, electronics and agricultural sectors.
“The guiding principle should be – trust Russia but keep a watch,” cautioned Vijay.
“In this background, we find UPA government’s attitude completely oblivious of the ground situation. It is in a self-denial mode, paralysed by domestic pressures and survival exercises, failing to strengthen new India-interest-centric positions in foreign affairs,” he said.
India’s ties with Russia have steadily accelerated in the last decade, with Moscow still accounting for over 60 per cent of India’s military hardware imports.