Valdai Club

The Indian leadership is compelled to respond to public opinion, which is predominantly shaped by the middle class. This segment of society is characterised by a growing insistence on affirming India’s special status on the world stage. Consequently, any perceived blow to the nation’s reputation is met with intense sensitivity and demands for a firm response. In this context, a single border skirmish could instantly undo all the positive declarations made at high-level summits, Gleb Makarevich writes.

Back in October 2017, which may seem today a bygone era, a group of Valdai Club experts teamed up with a group of researchers to release a report titled A Look into the Future: Scenarios for Asia and Russia in Asia in the Next 20 Years.

The Indo-American strategic partnership is a long-term trend that no one, including Russia, will be able to reverse. Russia needs to realize that the Indian political elites are expanding their contacts with the Americans not because of “pressure from Washington”, but because, in their opinion, cooperation with the US is in New Delhi’s national interests. At the same time, Moscow has the right to expect from New Delhi a similar attitude towards the Russian-Chinese “relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction of a new era,” writes expert Gleb Makarevich, Deputy Head, Centre for the Indian Ocean Region Studies, IMEMO RAS.