New Delhi, September 14
Mutual suspicion and distrust between Russia and China have given way to a mature and constructive approach to their bilateral ties as the two nations begin to compete in areas of economy and trade, visiting Russian journalist Dmitry Kosyrev said here today.
In his 70 minutes’ talk at the Observer Research Foundation, Mr Kosyrev said Russia and China have settled their border problems and have also sorted out their political differences resulting in $ 15 billion bilateral trade.
Story of growth in bilateral trade does not stop here as illegal trade between the two countries conducted on their over 4000-km border adds another $ 5 billion, the visiting Russian expert said, adding that Chinese consumer goods are being traded freely.
Young Russians of cities and towns have taken a great fancy for Chinese food, clothes and films and this has added to a spurt in demand for Chinese goods, Mr Kosyrev pointed out.
Moscow is keenly watching the ongoing Indo-Pakistan parleys as normalisation of the ties between the two hostile South Asian neighbours will serve the long term economic interests of Russia as proximity to the region is an added advantage.
Ruling out the possibility of any formal Moscow-New Delhi-Beijing axis, the Russian expert said such formations create suspicions of ganging up.
