Russia’s fresh bid to revive a strategic triangle with China and India as a counterbalance to the Western-led international order faces headwinds given the deep-seated distrust between the two Asian powers, according to observers.

However, United States President Donald Trump and his aggressive and unpredictable policies could be the catalyst to bring the three together, one analyst says.

The assessment was made as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov objected to what he described as Nato’s attempt to draw India into “anti-China” efforts, and reaffirmed Moscow’s hope that India and China could restore a three-way mechanism that has been in limbo since the deadly 2020 China-India border dispute.