A world is moving on and pushing America out of the picture.
Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi met in Beijing on Jan. 2 for the 13th Russia-India-China (RIC) summit to discuss how, as three countries with major influence on global affairs and with emerging domestic markets, they can work together to ensure global and regional peace and stability as well as pushing forward global economic growth.
From his 2012 presidential campaign onwards, Putin has tied his ambitions for Russia’s economy to the Russian Far East’s trade with China and the Asia-Pacific region. Relations between China and Delhi, which have at times been subject to tensions over ongoing territorial disputes, have also matured to enable mutual respect, despite the Indian press’s continuing reports on movements of both countries’ armies in northern Tibet and Indian-controlled Ladakh.
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The three countries took a long time in even reaching a basic level of agreement: from 2002 until 2009, no substantial written statement was issued; at the 2009 meeting in Bangalore, the three nations only reached consensus on supply of energy resources and on a peaceful resolution to the situation in Afghanistan. In 2010, however, the three expressed agreement or similar views on several international and regional issues and agreed to develop their solid foundation in ties. It wasn’t until 2012, when Beijing and Moscow confirmed that India was capable of developing advanced nuclear technology, that talks between the three took off, which has led up to the current talks in 2015, where prejudices may be put aside and action may be forthcoming.
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The triangle between Russia, China and India has long been referenced by bureaucrats in Moscow bureaucrats like former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov. Although former deputy speaker of the Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky, with his reputation as a showman, wrote in his book The Last March South in typical bombastic form that he yearned for a time “when Russian soldiers can wash their boots in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and switch to year-round summer uniforms,” implying the Russian annexation of Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey and the occupation of the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, since the appearance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, rhetoric among bureaucrats in Russia has been toned down and Russia has appeared more willing to take India under its wing, which might give Russia a leadership role which would skew three-party ties.
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Clearly, there is still a minefield to maneuver through in terms of diplomatic relations, but it seems that after 13 years of hard work, cooperation between the three countries is starting to bear fruit and China will no longer be alone in its attempt to bridge Eurasia, with its “One Road, One Belt” plan.
Full article: Signs China may ally with India and Russia after Beijing summit (Want China Times)
Global Geopolitics 