THE INDIAN EXPRESS

APLN member Shyam Saran writes in the Indian Express: China-Russia partnership signals a shift in geo-political equations that has implications for India.

Xi Jinping’s state visit to Russia from March 21 to 23 is of greater significance than is apparent in most analytical comments in India and abroad. It carried forward the promise of the “no-limits partnership” and “no forbidden areas of cooperation” contained in the February 4, 2022, Sino-Russian Joint Statement issued during Russian President Putin’s visit to Beijing for the Winter Olympics. That was before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine later that month. If there were doubts whether the promise of a more substantive strategic partnership between the two countries would survive the Ukraine crisis, the answer is clear. The Ukraine war has not diminished Chinese commitment to such partnership; in fact, it has enhanced it. The reasons are two-fold.