Russian envoy says no sanctions will stop friendship with India
Babushkin remembers architect of Indo-Russian ties Kadakin.
New Delhi: Russia on Tuesday declared that “no sanctions will stop” the Indo-Russian friendship, a reference made to the threat of sanctions by the United States on countries like India buying Russian weaponry and armaments.
Speaking at an event in the capital to honour the late former Russian ambassador to India Alexander Kadakin, the Russian deputy chief of mission (DCM) Roman Babushkin said, “No sanctions will stop our (Indo-Russian) friendship. Russia will remain India’s partner in defence, nuclear energy, space... .” The event, a photo-exhibition titled “Alexander Kadakin — Diplomat Par Excellence, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to India, recipient of the Padma Bhushan Award” was organised at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) on Tuesday evening.
Mr Kadakin died about three years ago on January 26, 2017, and was considered one of the architects of the Indo-Russian strategic relationship for decades. He was also one of the closest friends of India.
“Mr Kadakin was an inspiration and motivation for us as young diplomats. He was a very intuitive person and an encyclopaedia. He treated us as his children,” an emotional Mr Babushkin recalled.
Going down memory lane, the director of the Russian Centre of Science and Culture (RCSC) Fedor Rozovsky said, “We worked under his professional guidance. I spent a lot of time travelling with him throughout India. His contribution to ties with India was immense.”
Former external affairs minister (EAM) Salman Khurshid — who was the EAM during the United Progressive Alliance-2 (UPA) government — described Mr. Kadakin as a “remarkable man”, adding that he gave “remarkable energy” to bilateral ties between the two nations. Mr Khurshid described the ties between the erstwhile The Soviet Union and India and later Russia and India as a “colourful, exciting, relationship”.
Referring to the photo-exhibition, he said, “It goes back several pages in the history of our relationship.”