The West is denying “the multipolar reality” and making “a very big mistake” by putting pressure on India over its ties with Moscow, Roman Babushkin, the chargé d’affaires of the Russian Embassy in India, said in an interview with RT originally conducted in Hindi.
The diplomat stated that “Western countries are trying to protect their authority, forgetting that their colonial rule ended in the last century.” He added that India has become a “world superpower” and conducts a “diverse and sovereign foreign policy.”
India has been under constant scrutiny from its Western partners, particularly the US, over its robust ties with Russia since the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. Senior Biden administration officials were frustrated over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier this month, the Washington Post reported. The White House publicly expressed “concerns” over New Delhi’s ties with Moscow.
Babushkin said Russia is historically a stable partner of India and it is important for both countries to maintain this relationship. “The West wants to trick 1.5 billion people; this will never happen,” he added. “An elephant is not afraid of barking dogs.”
In 2023, Russian-Indian bilateral trade surpassed $63 billion, nearly six times bigger than the average $10-13 billion trade turnover the two countries maintained previously. During the bilateral summit held in Moscow earlier this month, the leaders of the two countries agreed to raise the bilateral trade target to $100 billion annually by 2030.
New Delhi has refused to condemn Moscow over the Ukraine conflict, despite constant pressure to downsize its diplomatic and economic engagement with Russia. India has consistently insisted on resolving the Ukraine conflict through dialogue and diplomacy involving both sides. Last month, New Delhi refused to sign the final document emerging from the Swiss-hosted ‘peace summit’ on Ukraine which Moscow was not invited to attend.
Comparing the attitudes demonstrated by the developed countries of the West towards the rest of the world to the nature of relationships maintained by alternative groupings of developing countries and emerging economies, such as BRICS, Babushkin noted that this grouping represents the “objectives of the majority of the world and the Global South.”
“It has expanded because many countries are interested in it. This is because BRICS is based on consensus. We respect each other. We respect diversity. And we emphasize the need for democratic principles in global governance,” he said.
Babushkin stressed that BRICS creates independent mechanisms for cooperation “free from unilateral sanctions or double standards.” These mechanisms include the New Development Bank, Parliamentary Forum, various platforms on energy, anti-terrorism cooperation, cybersecurity, education, science and research, and space. According to the diplomat, BRICS provides opportunities for “equitable partnership” and its importance will continue to grow.