New Delhi: Shedding light on Russia and Ukraine tensions, Defence expert Alok Bansal said that any alliance between Moscow and Beijing threatens India in a very big way.

In an exclusive interview with ANI, Bansal said, “We have a border dispute with China and we would not want a huge grouping to emerge on our north and if there is going to be a conflict between democracies and autocratic regimes, India would not want to be a frontline state in this new conflict.”

Regarding the safety and security of Indian citizens and students, the defence expert said that most of the Indian citizens and students reside in the western part of Ukraine.

“They are very far from the arena of conflict and they are actually virtually completely safe. There are, however, some students living in the eastern part of Ukraine, but the number is very, very limited,” said Bansal.

He said that in accordance with Indian Embassy in Kiev, travel advisory which advised Indian nationals to leave Ukraine temporarily should be respected and he urged Indian Missions in eastern part of Ukraine to make available commercial flights, and charter flights for orderly and timely departure.

Speaking on the UNSC briefing on developments in Ukraine, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, TS Tirumurti had reiterated that the safety and security of civilians are essential to India.

“More than 20,000 Indian students and nationals live and study in different parts of Ukraine, including in its border areas. The well-being of Indian nationals is of priority to us,” said Tirumurti.

Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the recognition of two separatist republics in eastern Ukraine – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent countries.

He also termed Ukraine as a US colony with “a puppet regime”, in a televised address.

Sharing his thoughts on the above event, Bansal said that has aggravated the crisis between Russia and Ukraine.

“Donetsk and Luhansk were already separated from Ukraine as far as practically concerned. It was under the control of the separatist elements who were controlling these two provinces,” he said.

“This could enable Russian President Vladimir Putin to get Russian troops to move into those territories by having recognized them and by the government requesting for Russian support, the troops could move into this region. Here we need to understand a few things,” added the expert.

Regarding US President Joe Biden Executive Order “blocking property on certain persons and prohibiting certain transactions with respect to continued Russian efforts to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”, Bansal said, “President Biden is taking steps to pressurize and punish Russia. But what we have seen is that America does not have the wherewithal or the gumption to go for a fight. And after Afghanistan, the US reliability as an ally is a serious question mark.”

“And if the conflict aggravates, it will be a very tough conflict and will create problems both for Russia, Ukraine, and Europe as a whole. It will also have a huge impact on the global economy and will push Russia closer to China, which is not in the interest of either Europe or America,” he added.