China Expresses Willingness to Work with India and Russia Following Putin's Delhi Visit

Beijing:

China expressed a positive response on Monday regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, characterizing the three nations as significant members of the Global South and emphasizing that healthy trilateral relationships benefit regional and global peace and stability, as well as their individual national interests.

"China, Russia and India are emerging economies and important members of the Global South," stated Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during a media briefing in Beijing, offering China's first official reaction to Putin's high-profile New Delhi visit and his meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.

Guo emphasized that "maintaining sound relations among the three countries not only aligns with their own interests but also contributes to regional and global peace, security, stability and prosperity."

Putin's visit was closely monitored in Beijing, given China's strong and close relationship with Moscow.

When questioned about Putin's pre-visit comments regarding New Delhi and Beijing, Guo responded that "China is prepared to collaborate with Russia and India to continue advancing bilateral relations."

In a pre-visit interview, Putin had remarked, "India and China are our closest friends - we treasure that relationship deeply." Addressing India-China relations—which are currently normalizing after the Eastern Ladakh confrontation that caused a diplomatic freeze from 2020 until last year—Guo stated that China aims to foster sustained and robust ties with New Delhi from a long-term perspective.

"Regarding China-India relations, China is ready to work with India to view and manage the bilateral relationship from a strategic height and long-term perspective, promoting sustained, sound and steady development of China-India ties to better benefit both countries and peoples, while making appropriate contributions to peace and prosperity in Asia and beyond," he said.

In addition to describing New Delhi and Beijing as Moscow's close friends, Putin expressed confidence during his interview with an Indian news channel that the leadership of both India and China are committed to resolving their issues, adding that Russia has no right to interfere in their bilateral matters.

Chinese official media highlighted Putin's comments on India-China relations.

The state-run Xinhua news agency reported his remarks refuting US accusations regarding India's purchases of Russian oil.

Meanwhile, China leads the list of countries purchasing Russian oil and gas, having rejected US calls to halt imports as a means to penalize Moscow for its ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Putin visited India from December 4-5, marking his first trip to the country since 2021.

During the visit, numerous agreements were signed to enhance trade and economic cooperation between the two nations. Both sides also developed an Economic Cooperation Programme aimed at increasing trade volume to USD 100 billion by 2030.