Lavrov, who is visiting the country, predicted that Moscow and Delhi would find ways to circumvent “illegal” Western sanctions and resume trade. Monti had not met with a number of other foreign ministers to arrive in Delhi in recent days, including UK Foreign Secretary Liz Toussaint and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, so Lavrov appears to have been alerted by the Indian leader. . India abstained from successive United Nations resolutions criticizing Moscow, calling only for an end to the violence, and increased oil purchases from Russia, its largest arms supplier. Truss, in India on Thursday, had tried to fight the battle between democracies and totalitarian regimes, but India, the world’s most populous democracy, does not seem willing to accept it, especially if it demands that India break with Russia in issues such as arms sales and a future realignment of the global security architecture in which the US has a less important role. Lavrov said: “These days our Western colleagues would like to limit any major international issue to the crisis in Ukraine. [We] consider that India is facing this situation in all its aspects, not just in a one-sided way. “I can only say that India’s balanced position, which is not influenced by blackmail or dictatorship, inspires our respect.” Lavrov also claimed that Ukraine was showing increasing understanding that NATO membership was not an option. “Friendship is the key word to describe the history of our relationship and our relationship has been very sustainable in many difficult times in the past,” he said. His Indian counterpart, Dr S Jaishankar, reiterated “the importance of ending violence and ending hostilities” and said: “Disputes must be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy.” Lavrov said Russia’s military attack on Ukraine was not just about “Ukraine’s neutrality,” but rather “a matter of world order.” He suggested that the United States should have stopped all attempts to establish autonomy from Europe, with the latter now in full conflict with Washington, a regime with which it said Europe had reconciled. In words designed to attract approval in India, he said the real ultimate game of the West was to re-establish a monopoly world. Lavrov said the United States and its allies were trying to hide their real goals by presenting their confrontation with Russia and some other nations as a “battle between democracies and totalitarian regimes.” However, according to the Russian Foreign Minister, the West itself has become a great empire with the US at the helm. But there are also tensions in India-Russia relations. Western economic sanctions have reportedly made it harder for India to pay Russia for imports, including weapons, oil, rough diamonds and fertilizers. Russia has sent a letter to India’s Ministry of Defense requesting the settlement of $ 1.3 billion in arrears, according to the Economic Times. India and Russia are working on a rupee-ruble mechanism to facilitate trade and circumvent Western sanctions on Russian banks, according to media reports. Lavrov told reporters he was confident the two countries would find a solution. “Many years ago we started moving in our relations with India, China, with many other countries from the use of dollars and euros to the increasing use of national currencies. “Under these circumstances, I believe this trend will intensify,” he said. “We will be ready to supply India with any goods that India wants to buy; and I have no doubt that a way will be found to bypass the artificial barriers created by illegal unilateral Western sanctions.” Lavrov arrived in Delhi on Thursday from China, where he welcomed Beijing as part of a new “multipolar, just, democratic world order.” India shares the West ‘s alarm over China’ s growing claim to the Indo – Pacific region and is a member of the so – called Quad alliance with the US, Japan and Australia. The United States has argued that Russia will end up as the smallest partner in its relationship with China, and that the more leverage China has over Russia, the less favorable it is for India.
