China sends top envoy Wang Yi to Russia for security talks
Sep 18: China's top diplomat Wang Yi is visiting Russia for security talks, as Moscow seeks continued support for its war on Ukraine.
A close ally of Moscow, Beijing is accused of supporting Russia indirectly during the war, which it denies.
BEIJING, Sept 19: China's top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day visit to Russia for security talks on Monday, his foreign ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides.
BEIJING, Sept 19: China's top diplomat Wang Yi will begin a four-day visit to Russia for security talks on Monday, his foreign ministry said, the latest in a series of high-level visits and phone calls between the two sides.
Wang, who heads the foreign ministry as well as the ruling Communist Party’s foreign affairs office, will meet Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev for annual security talks.
KATHMANDU, Feb 22: China's top diplomat Wang Yi is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, as tensions rise over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Wang Yi, who has been touring Europe, says he expects new agreements with Russia to come out of his visit.
China and Russia say they are "opposed to all forms of bullying" as the US and EU prepare more sanctions on Russia.
The US says China is considering supplying weapons and ammunition to Russia - a claim strongly denied by Beijing.
US President Joe Biden is set to meet Nato leaders from eastern Europe...
ROME, Feb. 17: Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Thursday appealed to his Chinese counterpart, who was on a visit to Rome, to put pressure on Russia to find a "just peace" in Ukraine."China has to play a fundamental role to push in the direction of peace," Tajani said in a ministry statement after talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
"I am sure that Beijing is ready to make a commitment in this direction," he added. Wang is due to visit Russia at the end of a European tour. In his talks with Wang, Tajani "reaffirmed the need...
MAY 24: The group - composed of Japan, the US, Australia and India - seems to be emerging from the shadows of the Covid-19 pandemic and, to some degree, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine as well.
The top leaders are gathering for the fourth time - they have already met once in Washington last September and twice virtually - in less than two years. That underscores the importance of the Quad, which was largely just a concept until 2017.
That year, then-US President Donald Trump revived the group in a bid to take on China in its own backyard.
But analysts say the steady decline in each Quad nation's bilateral ties with China in the past few years appears to have given it new impetus.
Michael Kugelman, deputy director at the Wilson Center think-tank, says the latest meeting is likely to sharply focus on the Indo-Pacific.
"With the pandemic in the rear-view mirror and an understanding over India's stand on Ukraine, the Quad will get down to focusing on its core business of ensuring an open and free Indo-Pacific," he says.
India has so far refused to directly criticise Russia over its war in Ukraine but it has reiterated the importance of respecting the sovereignty of each nation.India has so far refused to directly criticise Russia over its war in Ukraine but it has reiterated the importance of respecting the sovereignty of each nation.
After initial anger against India's stand, the US and other Western countries seem to have understood Delhi's position.
The 2+2 Dialogue - attended by the foreign and defence ministers of the US and India - in April helped smooth their differences over Ukraine.
The US has acknowledged that India's heavy dependence on Russia for its defence imports could not be overlooked.
So the Quad will focus on mutual points of convergence - and China is the biggest of these.
China has become increasingly assertive in the region, with ongoing maritime disputes with several countries and a land boundary conflict with India.
Beijing is investing heavily in strengthening its navy and its recent security pact with the Solomon Islands has stoked fears in Australia. A leaked draft of the agreement - which was verified by the Australian government - said Chinese warships would be permitted to dock on the islands and that Beijing could send security forces "to assist in maintaining social order".
It will be interesting to see how Anthony Albanese, Australia's newly elected PM, deals with this threat and how he raises the issue within the Quad framework.
Japan, for its part, has become increasingly wary of what it calls routine "incursions" from the Chinese navy.
As for the US, it is evident that it wants to protect its interests in the region.
The launch of the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), which has 13 regional players, is a step in that direction. It aims to promote regional growth, sustainability and inclusivity in the region.
It comes on the back of US President Joe Biden's recent meeting with the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) leaders in Washington.
The region's importance can be understood from the fact that it has some of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes, including the Strait of Malacca. Around 30-40% of the world's trade, including goods and crude oil, passes through these lanes.
So when Indian PM Narendra Modi, Mr Biden, Mr Albanese and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida meet in Tokyo, they may not mention China directly - but regional security will be on top of their agenda.
The Quad has several working groups, including on cybersecurity, health, infrastructure and education, but it has not explicitly spoken about any defence co-operation.
However, it's likely to announce a joint strategy to tackle illegal fishing in the Indo-Pacific region - which analysts say is largely aimed at China.
Mr Kugelman says this announcement would be quite significant because it involves the use of satellite imagery and active intelligence sharing - which will have security implications.
But he adds that the group will need to do a lot more before Asean nations see it as a major counterbalance to China.
It's not that there is no defence angle to the Quad. The four countries, and a few others, have taken part in India's Malabar naval exercises, and issues such as Afghanistan and North Korea's nuclear programme have been discussed at the Quad.
But Mr Kugelman points out that both Asean and Quad nations have significant trading volumes with China and they will try to avoid any direct confrontation with Beijing - at least until the Quad can emerge as a net security provider in the region.
Moreover, Delhi is a partner with Beijing in several multilateral forums, including Brics - which also includes Russia, South Africa and Brazil.
"The Quad has come a long way but it still has an informal structure and has no secretariat. So, it needs to keep evolving," Mr Kugelman says.
Meanwhile, Russia's growing ties with China will most likely feature as well as they don't suit Delhi's geopolitical calculations.
Some analysts have predicted that the Ukraine war may "send Russia into China's arms" and Beijing might be able to persuade Moscow to increase its presence in the Indo-Pacific.
If that happens, it will upset Delhi's interests the most as it has close ties with Russia and an ongoing dispute with China.
It's just a scenario at the moment, Mr Kugelman says, but one that can't be completely overruled, especially since Russia has been quite critical of the Quad.
Beijing's initial reaction to the Quad was to dismiss it, saying the group would "dissipate like sea foam". But it later sharpened its criticism of the group, calling it the "Asian Nato".
On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the Quad was formed "to contain China".
With such hardening of positions from both sides, Asean nations - some of whom have active maritime disputes with China - may find themselves between what one analyst called "a rock and a hard place".
With inputs from BBC
APRIL 3: India has not joined the widespread condemnation of Russia's invasion and is a major buyer of Russian arms.
But it faces a diplomatic balancing act, and is under pressure from Western countries to help rein in Russia.
Following the talks India said it favoured peaceful resolutions of conflicts but did not criticise Russia.
India, which is a nuclear power, has a long history of pursuing a non-aligned strategy in international politics, not tying itself to the interests of other superpowers or political blocs.
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - who also met Indian's Prime Minister Narendra Modi - spoke of the "friendship" between the two nations in his statement.
"These days our Western colleagues would like to reduce any meaningful international issue to the crisis in Ukraine," he said.
"[We] appreciate that India is taking this situation in the entirety of facts, not just in a one-sided way."
Russia has justified invading Ukraine as a means to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" its neighbour, an argument widely dismissed by the West as a baseless pretext for invasion.
Mr Lavrov's Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar, "emphasised the importance of cessation of violence and ending hostilities".
"Differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and by respect for international law, [the] UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states," India's foreign ministry said.
India needs Russian military hardware as deterrence against China, with which it was involved in a deadly border clash with in 2020. China too has stopped short of condemning Russia's actions in Ukraine.
The US chief sanctions strategist, Daleep Singh, alluded to Russia-China ties when he warned India that Russia would not be a reliable ally ahead of the foreign ministers' meeting.
"Russia is going to be the junior partner in this relationship with China. And the more leverage that China gains over Russia, the less favourable that is for India," he said.
India stepped up purchases of Russia oil after prices slumped in the wake of Western sanctions.
On Thursday, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she respected India's decision to continue to buy oil but also urged "like-minded nations" to co-operate more closely on defence, trade, and energy and food security.
In recent weeks there's been a conveyor belt of visiting dignitaries and diplomats who've come to India from the UK, US, China, Japan, Germany, Austria, Mexico, Nepal and Greece.
It seems as if every nation wants to get India on side - but India is resolutely staying neutral. Delhi prides itself on its independent foreign policy, yet its ties with Russia run deep and are also practical - it buys the vast majority of its weapons from Moscow.
The visit by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was a clear signal that India still sees Russia as an ally, even if many world leaders view it as an aggressor.
Prime Minister Modi even took time to meet Sergei Lavrov himself - contrast that to British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, both recent visitors who didn't get an audience.
India's relationship with Russia, and its diplomatic balancing act could turn it into an unexpected broker.
Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was open to India mediating in the crisis, while a statement from Prime Minister Modi's office said he'd conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts.
