RUSSIA & CHINA: EXPLORING A WIDER BILATERAL AGENDA

Though Russo-Chinese alignment is driven more by animosity with the US than by any natural affinity for each other, with the increasing expansion of the scope and substance of their partnership in recent times, the mutual acrimony will become peripheral,

- VAISHALI BASU SHARMA

Tremendous speculation has marked the recent visit of President Xi Jinping to Moscow, despite the fact that both presidents have frequent, detailed conversations on a regular basis. It is indeed difficult for any international relations scholar to imagine that two countries, which have nothing in common, have fought a war in 1969 despite adhering to a common ideology, and are temperamentally incapable of compromise, are capable of developing a partnership that has all the elements of an alliance.

The camaraderie between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping has provided much of the impetus for cooperation. It is apparent that the two leaders have a close, personal relationship; Xi has called Putin his "best and bosom friend."

Upon arrival for the Moscow Summit (March 20 to 22), informal talks between the two presidents lasted for almost five hours, which was followed by official talks at the Kremlin the following day when two joint statements were issued.

The comprehensive statement on 'Deepening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Coordination for the New Era, albeit somewhat ambiguous, does lay out several interesting focal points, both in terms of the direction of Russia and China's bilateral cooperation and on the war in Ukraine. China's position in terms of mediating the Ukrainian conflict was highly anticipated, and the joint statement issued suggests the possibility of Russia accepting China's "role in a political-diplomatic settlement of the Ukrainian crisis." There has been speculation that the recent Moscow Summit marks the potential emergence of a new world order that can challenge US dominance. The wording of the joint statement attempts to belay some of those apprehensions.