The
escalating conflict
between
India
and
Pakistan
is an uncommon point of contention within the growing alliance
China
and
Russia
.
As tensions rise between the two nuclear-armed nations in South Asia, poised on the edge of potential conflict,
India’s missile strikes
against Pakistan, which it
held responsible for an Islamist terror strike
in April, and Pakistan’s
vow to retaliate
The tense circumstances might lead to disagreements between China and Russia.
Russia has been a longtime ally of India, with the Soviet Union being New Delhi’s main backer during the Cold War. This friendship continued after the collapse of the Soviet Union, with Moscow being the primary source of Indian arms imports. This friendship is clashing with China, which has filled the vacuum left by the United States’s shift away from longtime ally Pakistan toward India.
Imports of Chinese weaponry into Pakistan surged from 36% between 2006-2010 to 81% for the period 2020-2024, as reported by data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute cited by The New York Times. Between 2006 and 2010, both China and the U.S. supplied an equal share of arms to Islamabad; however, currently, there are no weapon imports coming from the U.S.
In the meantime, India has increasingly turned to Western weaponry. The proportion of its imported arms from Western sources rose dramatically from a small fraction between 2006-2010 to over half in 2020-2024, with purchases including 33% from France, 13% from Israel, and 10% from the United States. Despite this shift, Russia remains the top supplier overall but saw a significant drop from 75% in 2006-2010 to providing now 36%.
Despite diversifying its alliances, India retains close ties with Russia. On July 8, 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveled to Moscow for a bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a notable step given Western attempts to isolate Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Modi called the meeting “highly productive,” pledging to deepen Russian-Indian cooperation in trade, commerce, security, agriculture, technology, and innovation.
India has played a crucial role in maintaining Russia’s economic stability amid Western sanctions by purchasing significant quantities of Russian crude oil. Experts suggest that approximately 40 percent of India’s imported oil comes from Russia.
As Russia emphasized the importance of India and Pakistan engaging in dialogue to reduce tensions, maintaining a balanced stance in official communications, it showed considerable backing for India prior to the outbreak of hostilities.
In a statement released by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, Putin expressed complete backing for India’s efforts to combat terrorism during a telephone conversation on Monday. This occurred just one day prior to India initiating missile attacks against Pakistan. Additionally, both leaders agreed to further strengthen their “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership.”
Putin also
accepted an invitation
to visit India soon.
In the meantime, China has demonstrated strong backing for Pakistan while also advocating for calm.
backed
Pakistan’s proposal for a neutral investigation into last month’s terrorist attack in Kashmir, one of the most direct signals of support from any country. It also gave strong rhetorical support.
“China always supports Pakistan’s resolute implementation of counterterrorism actions.” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an April 27 phone call. “As Pakistan’s ironclad friend and all-weather strategic cooperative partner, China fully understands Pakistan’s legitimate security concerns and supports Pakistan in safeguarding its sovereignty and security interests.”
Indian media
It was also claimed that Beijing provided crucial backing to ease the language in the United Nations Security Council’s statement about the Kashmir terrorist incident.
Both China and
Russia
expressed worry about rising tensions on Wednesday, however, China’s Foreign Ministry specifically pointed at “India’s military action” as being “unacceptable.”
For many years, China has supported Pakistan due largely to longstanding tensions with India along their borders. In recent times, this partnership has intensified significantly thanks to substantial financial investments from China into various Pakistani projects. As part of its broader Belt and Road Initiative, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor represents more than $65 billion worth of Chinese commitment. This initiative primarily targets enhancing Pakistan’s infrastructure, power generation capabilities, and transportation systems.
Even with significant support for Pakistan, analyst Muhammad Murad nonetheless
argued
In “The Diplomat,” it is mentioned that China aims to prevent escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Over the last year, China has sought to improve its relationship with India primarily to broaden its market reach due to the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S.
INDIA INITIATES MISSILE STRIKE AGAINST PAKISTAN
The division between China and Russia concerning the India-Pakistan conflict stands out because these nations have been largely aligned on almost every issue since the start of the war in Ukraine.
New Delhi and Islamabad are assessing their next moves following violent confrontations early Wednesday morning. Pakistan claims that 38 individuals died due to Indian military strikes within its borders, whereas India reports that 12 people lost their lives as a result of Pakistani assaults on its own soil.
