The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday clarified that the annual India-Russia summit had been cancelled due to the coronavirus crisis, denying reports of tensions between the two countries over India’s decision to join the Quadrilateral coalition, or Quad.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that not holding the summit was a mutual decision of the two countries. “Any imputation otherwise is false and misleading,” he added. “Spreading false stories on important relationships is particularly irresponsible.”

The foreign’s ministry response came hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted a screenshot of a news report claiming that Russia had reservations about India joining the coalition comprising United States, Japan and Australia. The coalition is seen as a challenge to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

The report added that it was for the first time since 2000 that India and Russia did not hold their annual meeting. “Russia is a very important friend of India,” Gandhi tweeted. “Damaging our traditional relationships is short-sighted and dangerous for our future.”

Russia had on Monday said that the Quad would be detrimental to inclusive dialogue for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Russian Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev, while responding to a question on China’s activities in the Indo-Pacific region, had said his country wanted dialogue between India and China. “We [India and Russia] are special privileged and trusted strategic partners,” he was quoted as saying by PTI. “I do really dream and I really wish your [India’s] relationship with China reaches the same level [as India-Russia ties].”

Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had alleged that the United States – through military and technical cooperation – was trying to influence India to join the anti-China camp and was also undermining New Delhi’s relations with Moscow. India, in response to Lavrov’s allegation, said that it had an independent foreign policy based on its own national interests.

The Russian minister’s comment came amid border tensions between India and China. The troops of both the countries are trying to disengage in Ladakh after the worst border skirmish between the two countries in decades. Both India and China have accused each other of crossing into rival territory and of firing shots for the first time in 45 years.

The India-China conflict

India and China had last week agreed to continue working towards ensuring complete disengagement of soldiers along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh as the border standoff between the two neighbouring countries continues.

On December 11, India had blamed China for the ongoing border standoff between the two countries, claiming that it tried to effect a “unilateral change” in the eastern Ladakh region. This came two days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the ties between the neighbours are passing through their most difficult phase, claiming that Beijing has offered “five differing explanations” for violating agreements on maintaining peace.

On December 8, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that the country was working with India for “further de-escalation” in Ladakh.

The tensions along the Line of Actual Control started with initial scuffles that led to a pitched battle – without firearms – in June that saw 20 Indian soldiers killed. Beijing, however, refused to release casualty numbers on its side.

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