India Was Under Great Pressure From West Over Ukraine: Russian Diplomat

India was under tremendous pressure from the West in its geopolitical game against Russia and to isolate it following the conflict with Ukraine, a Russian diplomat said on Wednesday.

Terming the idea by the West as absurd since the world was much more complicated and the plans of Western countries were doomed to be a failure, said Russian Consul General in South India Oleg Avdeev.

"They (Western countries) clearly underestimate the irrevocable choice of independent States for just and equal multipolarity based on universal norms and principles of the international law in which there should be no double standards and confrontational attitude," he said.

The official was speaking at the 75th anniversary of Russian-Indian diplomatic relations observed by the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, South India.

It was evident that India and other like-minded countries were not going to yield to the Western pressure and were steadfast in pursuing their legitimate national interests bilaterally as well as multilaterally in the United Nations and its Security Council and in other formats, he said.

"Despite tremendous combined pressure from the West, Indian leaders chose to retain strategic autonomy in its relationship with Russia," he said.

Referring to the recent meeting of the two Foreign Ministers of Russia and India, he said the two reiterated the mutual commitment to go ahead with further development of the bilateral relations focus on adaptation to a new reality.

"Currently, we are involved in expanding rouble-rupee scheme and adjusting our banking cooperation and payment systems in order to ensure that the pragmatic and mutually beneficial economic partnership remains uninterrupted," he said.

Expressing optimism on the future of Russian-Indian partnership, Avdeev said, "It is up to us to shape it. No doubt, these unique relations will get even stronger and move forward with confidence covering new areas and dimensions for the sake of wellbeing of our nations." "They are embodied in the five mutuals -- respect, trust, support, interest and goodwill," he said.

On the 75th anniversary of the Indo-Russian relations, he said, "The cooperation between the two nations has been steadily expanding and currently it embraces various spheres of economy, science, technology and culture." The long and remarkable history of this relationship is replete with various and unique milestones and the two countries view each other as dependable partners, he said.