Russia backs India at SCO meet, says bilateral issues should be avoided

Russia has echoed what PM Modi said in his opening remarks at the SCO in which he raised the issue of the country raising bilateral issues at the summit

Russia has backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's position at the SCO. Russia has echoed what the Prime Minister said in his opening remarks at the SCO in which he raised the issue of the country raising bilateral issues at the summit.

Speaking to reporters Russian deputy chief of mission Roman Babushkin said, "It is part of the charter and basic focus to not bring bilateral issues in agenda, it should be avoided for the progress of multilateral fora, SCO is meant to resolve, global, financial issues affecting the region. We hope that India-Pakistan bilateral issues should be avoided and such incidents would not appear."

Talking on the India-China tension, the envoy told reporters that Russia is concerned and it may have repercussion on groupings like BRICS and SCO but it is in the best interest of members to not to bring tensions in the groupings.

There is tension between India and China but we are seeing will on both sides to find a solution, he said.

Speaking on current agreements between India and the United States, he said Defence cooperation of Russia with India is immune to any restrictions.

"Russia-India relations are proceeding with great confidence. We are closely watching India's relations with the US and other countries. India's ties with other countries are not at the expense of Russian interests, we have no doubt on the credibility of Indian friends," he added.

He also spoke on the export of Brahmos to third countries. Brahmos is a joint product of India and Russia.

When asked whether it can be supplied to countries in South-east Asia, he said, "We're talking about cooperation with third nations. Requires more consultations and will take time. We're in talks with many countries not only South-east Asian countries."

The Russian envoy also spoke on the supply of S400 and said, "we will implement our commitment on time and if India asks us to expedite, we will try and satisfy."

He hinted that delivery will be next year ahead of Aero India Show 2021.