Lavrov backs India for long-term role

Sergei Lavrov used a news conference in New Delhi on May 15 to draw a distinction between Pakistan’s current contacts on the Iran crisis and a longer-term role he said India could play. The Russian foreign minister said Pakistan was helping establish dialogue between Washington and Tehran on urgent issues, while India could act over time as an intermediary between Iran and Arab states, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The remarks came at the close of a two-day BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting hosted by India on May 14-15. Lavrov also held bilateral talks with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and met Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the visit, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The timing added another layer to an already tense regional picture. India’s army chief, General Upendra Dwivedi, said on May 16 that Pakistan must stop backing terrorism or “face consequences,” in one of New Delhi’s sharper public warnings to Islamabad in recent days, according to Indian media reports. (mid.ru) ### What exactly did Lavrov say about Pakistan and India? Lavrov said on May 15 that Pakistan was helping create dialogue between the United States and Iran to resolve “urgent problems,” while India could play a broader role over the longer term. In the Russian Foreign Ministry’s published account of his New Delhi news conference, he said that “in the long term” India could serve as an intermediary between Iran and its Arab neighbours because of its diplomatic experience and standing. (firstpost.com) Russian state messaging had already acknowledged Pakistan’s role before the BRICS meeting. In an April 24 telephone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, Lavrov praised Islamabad’s mediation role in reaching sustainable agreements between Iran and the United States and said Russia was ready to support those efforts, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. (mid.ru) ### Why was he saying this in New Delhi? New Delhi hosted the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting as India holds the group’s 2026 chairmanship. The gathering brought together ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, along with newer member states, as the bloc confronted the war in Iran, higher oil prices and wider geopolitical divisions, according to the Associated Press. (mid.ru) Lavrov used the trip to pair the mediation comments with a public display of India-Russia ties. The Russian Foreign Ministry said he and Jaishankar reviewed bilateral cooperation after their governments signed a programme in December 2025 aimed at lifting bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030. ### How does India fit into this diplomacy? India has not publicly positioned itself as the lead channel for immediate U.S.-Iran contacts in the way Lavrov described Pakistan. (apnews.com) Instead, Lavrov presented India as a country with the diplomatic weight for a wider stabilising role, specifically in contacts involving Iran and Arab neighbours. That framing matters because it assigns different tasks to two South Asian rivals at the same moment. (mid.ru) Lavrov did not say India was replacing Pakistan in current mediation; he said Pakistan was handling urgent dialogue while India could be useful over a longer horizon. ### What was happening between India and Pakistan at the same time? General Upendra Dwivedi said on May 16 that if Pakistan continued to support terrorists operating against India, it would have to decide “whether they want to be part of geography or history,” according to Firstpost and other Indian outlets. (mid.ru) The remarks were made at an event in New Delhi and were presented as a warning over future cross-border attacks. Those comments underscored the contrast between diplomatic talk around mediation and the continued hostility in India-Pakistan relations. Neither Lavrov’s remarks nor the Russian Foreign Ministry’s readout suggested any easing of that bilateral tension. ### What comes next? India’s BRICS chairmanship will continue through 2026, giving New Delhi more chances to host bloc discussions on Iran, energy markets and regional security. (firstpost.com) Russia’s foreign ministry said Lavrov’s May 14-15 visit included follow-up talks with Jaishankar and Modi on bilateral agreements, while the BRICS process moves toward its next ministerial and leaders’ meetings under India’s chair. (mid.ru)