Denis Alipov: Russia is interested in India deepening its interaction with the CSTO

Russia is interested in India deepening its ties to the CSTO. Denis Alipov, Russia’s new ambassador to India, stated this in an interview to the Izvestia newspaper.
“This region is a CSTO area of responsibility. And we would be interested in India deepening its ties to the CSTO. India has already established its contacts with the organization. But we would welcome more active and thorough interaction between the republic and this organization,” noted Denis Alipov.
According to Denis Alipov, the Indians show great interest in interaction in Central Asia. “For them, just as for the Russian Federation, this region is of high importance. This is due to many foreign policy issues, primarily security issues and the threats generated by the unstable situation in Afghanistan,” he explained.
“The SCO, of which the Central Asian republics, Russia and India are members, is active in this area. And I think this platform is the most successful and appropriate to deepen our cooperation,” added the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of India.
Denis Alipov also said that historically the Republic of India has had very close ties to Central Asia; it maintains an active political dialogue and develops trade ties with all of the republics in the region. In addition, India is also interested in deepening cooperation with Russia in this region in various fields, he added.
“Therefore, in general we are interested in cooperation with India regarding Central Asia in these formats along with other SCO members and participants. This would be very useful,” the diplomat concluded.
“At the same time, we never tell India who it should be friends with and which groups to join, unlike the Americans who are constantly whispering nasty things about us,” added Denis Alipov.