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Members of the VIF faculty, on 18 January 2016, interacted with Prof Alexander Lukin, Head, Department of International Relations, National Research University Higher School of Economics and Director, Center for East Asian and Shanghai Cooperation Organization Studies, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University), MFA of Russia. The interaction cut across a wide range of global and regional security issues, including Russia’s Asia pivot policy, a corollary to Moscow’s worsening of relations with the west in recent years, especially since the onset of Ukrainian crisis in 2014. Lukin gave a detailed expose of what Russia’s Asia pivot policy actually entails, driven by economic imperatives and fuelled by geo-political considerations.

With the Asia-pacific region rising in economic profile, it was natural for Russia to increase its cooperation with countries in the region. While the Ukrainian crisis may have compelled Russia to re-energies its relations with the Asian countries, Asia always has remained central to Moscow’s scheme of things right from the days of President Leonid Brezhnev, with successive Presidents deviating little from the enunciated policy, the Professor pointed out in his presentation. He, however, said substituting China as a development partner for the west has met with mixed reactions even as sections of the policy establishment, including parts of the bureaucracy, remain deeply entrenched to the concept of cooperation with the west. The ensuing interaction however underlined that Asia’s emerging challenges are providing a leeway to Moscow’s ambition to reassert itself on the global stage. Prof. Lukin also explained to the Indian interlocutors that while Russia views India as a geo-political friend, Moscow’s new found defence cooperation with Islamabad, especially its supply of military hardware to Pakistan, viewed increasingly with skepticism by New Delhi, can be explained in terms of economic imperatives. The Syrian crisis, the US rebalance strategy and the result of Taiwan elections were among host of other issues that came for discussions during the interactive session. The discussions were moderated by Amb Prabhat Shukla, India’s former Ambassador to Russia and a Distinguished Fellow, VIF.