Russia's envoy in India comments on Pakistan irks Delhi
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MOSCOW - Delhi has been irked with Moscow when Russia’s envoy to India on Monday defended his country’s burgeoning relationship with Pakistan, calling for a “realistic” approach to regional security and stability and saying Islamabad’s “credibility” in the war on terror had increased.
Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev’s remarks at an event organised by the think tank Ananta Aspen Centre, come against the backdrop of growing pressure from the West, especially the US, on Pakistan to crack down on terrorists operating from its soil and to curb widespread terror financing, Hindustan Times has reported.
“In my take…after this country joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, after this country started to take serious measures to curb the financing of terror, the credibility of Pakistan is growing and there is no reason, no sense to deny its wish, its will to be a part of regional and global efforts to fight terror, to search for stability and to enhance economic integration,” he said during the question and answer session.
Earlier in his speech, Kudashev said Russia is “open for contacts with every country” to ensure regional stability. Without naming Pakistan or the US, he also said “excessive pressure” on any of Afghanistan’s neighbours would “just antagonise them and make numerous problems even more complicated”.
“The problems of Afghanistan are impossible to resolve without taking on board every neighbouring country,” he said.
“There should be a realistic and comprehensive approach to the issues of common interest rather than a geopolitical one.
We are open to contacts with every country, especially if it would help to ensure the regional stability, which, on the other hand, also remains largely dependent on constructive relationship between New Delhi and Islamabad,” he added.
