The diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February by various Western nations has been viewed as a new chapter in the tussle between Beijing and the West. But the issue has also been seen as a sign of the growing convergence between China and Russia. During a videoconference with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed he would be present at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in February.
On Thursday, Putin argued the Western boycott of the Winter Olympics was a mistake “driven by a desire to restrain China's development”, Reuters reported.
And if BJP MP Subramanian Swamy is to be believed, Putin wants company. Swamy tweeted on Saturday that Putin had been “summoned” by Xi to attend the Winter Olympics and the Russian leader was “putting pressure on Modi to be in Beijing too”. Swamy tweeted, “Putin as a junior partner of China has been summoned by Xi to be present in Beijing Winter Olympics. Putin is putting pressure on Modi to be in Beijing too, so that the three can meet.”
It is yet unclear whether Swamy was referring to Modi being asked to attend the Winter Olympics in particular or for a summit with the two leaders.
Swamy has constantly criticised the Modi government over its handling of the standoff with China and its attempts to balance ties with Russia on one side and with the West and the Quad initiative on the other hand.
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Swamy has repeatedly referred to Russia as being a “junior partner” of China and argued against arms purchases from Moscow, most notably the deal for the S-400 air defence system.
Last week, the ministry of external affairs denied it had information on plans for a summit of the leaders of Russia, India and China (RIC). The MEA response came after a Kremlin official said the “topic of cooperation in the Russia-India-China format” came up in the Putin-Xi videoconference. Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said Putin and Xi agreed to “endeavour to hold the next summit within the RIC framework in the near future”.