China responded favorably to Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India on Monday, portraying the three nations as a crucial component of the Global South and stating that, in addition to their own national interests, strong trilateral ties promote regional and international peace and stability.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded for the first time to Putin's high-profile visit to New Delhi last week and his interactions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi by saying, "China, Russia and India are emerging economies and important members of the Global South," during a media briefing here.
According to Guo, the three nations' good relations are beneficial to regional and global peace, security, stability, and prosperity in addition to serving their own interests. Given Beijing's extensive and robust relations to Moscow, Putin's visit was widely followed here.
In response to a query regarding Putin's remarks regarding Beijing and New Delhi before to his visit, Guo stated that China is prepared to collaborate with Russia and India to further advance the growth of bilateral ties.
Prior to his arrival, Putin had stated in an interview that "India and China are our closest friends - we treasure that relationship deeply."
Regarding India-China relations, which are currently on a path of normalization following the conflict in Eastern Ladakh, which caused ties to be frozen from 2020 until last year, Guo stated that China wishes to foster long-term, solid ties with New Delhi.
He stated that China is prepared to collaborate with India in order to view and manage bilateral relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective, encourage the long-term, robust, and steady development of ties for the benefit of both nations and their peoples, and contribute appropriately to peace and prosperity in Asia and beyond.
In the interview with an Indian news channel, Putin not only described Beijing and New Delhi as Moscow's close friends, but he also expressed confidence that China and India's leaders are dedicated to resolving their differences and that Russia has "no right" to meddle in their bilateral affairs.
Putin's remarks regarding India-China relations were emphasized by Chinese official media. His comments disputing US allegations on India's procurement of Russian oil were published by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
China, for its part, is the main buyer of Russian gas and oil, and it has refused US demands to stop supplies in order to punish Moscow for carrying out its war on Ukraine. From December 4-5, Putin traveled to India. He hadn't been to India since 2021.
Numerous agreements to strengthen trade and economic connections between the two nations were made during his visit. Additionally, an Economic Cooperation Program was developed by both parties to raise trade volume to $100 billion USD by 2030.
