According to TASS news agency, on December 27, local time, Russian Prime Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with visiting Indian Prime Minister S Jaishankar in Moscow. At a press conference after the meeting, Lavrov reiterated Russia's support for India becoming a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The G20 summit in New Delhi is indeed a victory for India's foreign policy, a victory for multilateral diplomacy. The final document reflected a balance of interests for all parties. This is an example of how to work in the G20 and other multilateral organizations, as well as in the United Nations and its Security Council. "As I have already said, we support India's candidacy for inclusion in the agency. ”
On December 27, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a joint press conference.
According to reports, the UN Security Council is composed of 15 members, with five permanent members being China, Russia, France, the United States and the United Kingdom, and the remaining 10 non-permanent members with two-year terms are elected by the UN General Assembly, and five are rotated each year.
In addition to India, Japan, Brazil, and Germany are also actively striving for "normalization". However, in order to maintain the vitality and action of the Security Council, the "club" of permanent members of the Security Council is basically closed.
Since the 1990s, India has repeatedly requested the UN General Assembly to "become normal", and the pace of "striving for normalcy" has never stopped, but there has been no progress. So far, it has applied to the United Nations for "permanent membership" six times, all of which have been denied.
In September this year, the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly was held in New York, and India is preparing to strive for "normalization" for the seventh time. In order to build momentum, India also specially produced a feature film, listing six major reasons to try to prove that India is worthy of the status of a permanent member, and even said that if India cannot "become a permanent member" this year, it will withdraw from the United Nations and establish a "new United Nations" with India as the center.
According to the Charter of the United Nations, in order to become a permanent member of the Security Council, it is necessary not only to obtain the approval of a majority of 2 or 3 of all United Nations Member States, but also to obtain the unanimous vote of the permanent members.
Unlike Britain and France, whose support for India is mostly at the level of diplomatic rhetoric, and the United States, which has expressed support but opposes India's "one-vote veto," Russia has repeatedly and explicitly supported India as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and regards the common interests of Russia and India as a strong support for the two sides to borrow from each other.
As early as 2000, when Russia and India signed the "India-Russia Strategic Partnership Declaration," Russia pledged to support India's "entry into normalcy." Since then, the Russian side has repeatedly stated that it regards India as the No. 1 candidate for "permanent membership". However, Russia's support for India's "normalization" is also based on geostrategic considerations against the Western bloc, and it is also skeptical of India's repeated "horizontal jumps".
TASS also reported that at a press conference on the same day, Lavrov also said that the parties discussed plans for joint production of military equipment and are ready to cooperate in manufacturing.
Lavrov revealed that he and Jaishankar discussed the prospects for technical cooperation on two issues, including the joint production of modern products, and made "concrete progress". He said that cooperation between Russia and India is strategic and in line with the national interests of both countries, as well as in the interests of "maintaining security in Eurasia."
"We respect India's desire to diversify its military and technical ties," Lavrov said. We understand and are ready to support their initiative to produce military products under the 'Make in India' programme. We are ready to cooperate on this issue. ”
Lavrov also said that the two sides agreed to take a series of measures to expand cooperation, including an international north-south transport corridor connecting Russia and India by ship, rail and road, as well as the establishment of a sea route between Chennai and Vladivostok.
The report mentions that in 2000, Russia, India and Iran signed an inter-state agreement on the establishment of a north-south multimodal transport corridor. The number of participating members was subsequently increased to 14. The project aims to attract the transport of goods from India, Iran and the Gulf countries to Europe via Russia, reducing the transportation time and cost by more than half the distance of the sea route through the Suez Canal. Now, the corridor is seeking to connect the separate transport systems of various countries.
Jaishankar said India's relationship with Russia remains stable and strong, and this relationship is based on the strategic fit and geopolitical interests of the two countries. He pointed out that the bilateral amount between the two countries is expected to hit a record high, "Our amount last year has exceeded $50 billion, and it is expected to be higher this year." Importantly, ours are balanced, sustainable, and provide fair market access. ”
In addition, Lavrov and Jaishankar discussed international affairs such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the situation in Afghanistan. Lavrov noted that Russia and India have similar positions on issues such as the UN, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the G20, "all countries want to create an international political and economic system that is open and fair to all." ”
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