Writing in the Indian Daily The Telegraph, EWI board member Kanwal Sibal argues that India and Russia have similar goals for their relationships with China and the West, but their responses have not been as coordinated as they can be.

Sibal suggests that India and Russia both have an interest in a balance between world powers, and should resist a global system dominated by the U.S. and China. “For India, Russia’s resurgence will create a greater balance in global affairs,” he writes. “Russia’s decline has facilitated China’s rise, which is against India’s strategic interests.”

But the two countries have not been able to act collectively for mutual benefit. “India and Russia do not have a common vision of China,” he says, pointing to Russian arms sales to China, Russia-China energy deals and increasing Russia-China cooperation in multilateral dialogues. “It is unlikely that they will be able to develop one on the essentials even as both countries continue to engage China, as they should.”

Unless India and Russia are able to cooperate to counter China’s rise, Sibal suggests that India should create closer ties with the U.S. and Japan – two other countries that may be threatened by Chinese influence. “If the improved Russia-China ties would prevent Russia, for larger geo-political and strategic considerations, from engaging India on its China problem,” he writes, “India would need to invest more in the potential of the U.S.-China equation souring at some time and throwing up further common ground for developing some joint India-U.S.-Japan hedging strategies for the future.”

Ultimately, Sibal argues, even if Russia and India do not always see eye to eye on China, the two have much to gain from cooperation, especially in Afghanistan and Central Asia. “Russia should facilitate greater Indian involvement in Central Asia,” he concludes. “In Afghanistan we have to fashion a common strategy to prevent the return to power of the Taliban. Russia needs to be more open with India on Pakistan, which is the source of serious problems for India and, through its disruptive ambitions in Afghanistan encouraged by the U.S., to Russia too.”

Click here to read Kanwal Sibal's article in The Telegraph