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Decades old ties with Russia more important for India in the wake of US' America First Policy

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New Delhi, Oct 5: The world order is changing as Pakistan has dumped the US, China is claiming to be the leadership of the Left block replacing Russia, European nations struggling with their own contradictions and India seems to be indecisive if it should rely on its trusted ally Russia or look at the US that had never answered its distressed call.

Even an unconscious move by India to drift away will prove to detrimental not only to the security of the country but also to its economic growth. And countries like China and Pakistan are waiting for such opportunity to influence Russia which is under sanctions of the European countries and the US. So Russia will try to find some more such partners who are also under sanctions from these countries.

For India all weather friendship of Russia becomes more important in view of America First Policy

Former foreign secretary of India Shashank told Oneindia, "We have to keep things going to such an extent that if we can maintain old friendship with Russia and at the same time try to built new partnership with Americans and the West without hurting our very strong security interest with Russia. We should continue to do that as after all India is a big country."

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"Moreover, there is a need to understand that it was Russia that helped India to get membership of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) while Chinese were pushing for Pakistan to get SCO membership despite the fact that Pakistan were problem creators and Indians were solution providers," said Shashank.

In such a situation bilaterals between the two countries are very important. Russia being the permanent member of UN security council, India needs its support especially for permanent membership to India in UNSC. India's strategic relationship with Russia is quite old.

Americans had helped only on the sides of food grains. There is a problem that Russia is getting closure to Pakistan and their proximity with China has also grown manifold. They had a very extensive military exercise in eastern Siberia in which Russia, China and Mongolia participated. So India might feel that distance between both the countries increasing but India must also not behave like an adolescent as seventy years have completed since our independence.

Also Read | India may try to invoke legacy issue while dealing with Russia to avoid sanctions

"We must think that if England and the US are not helping us and they are helping Pakistan so we will go to Russia. Now if the US is ready to lift or reduce sanctions from India and ready to have friendship with India as there is enmity against the Russia so the US helped China and Pakistan and now Pakistan has cheated upon them so this is the time to have friendship with the US. We must not get carried away with this kind of feeling because the US has strengthened its America First Policy. We must consider that if we fail to passed litmus test in the nationalistic feeling of the US then we must get first imposed tariffs second if they impose sanctions on Russia, Iraq or any other country that might also affect India. So we must tread very cautiously in view of changing order," added the former foreign secretary.

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