Modi in Russia: Indian PM’s balancing act as he meets Putin

As he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on his first international trip since taking office for a second word in June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is closely watched by his Western allies.

Mr Modi landed on Monday, only days after Russian bombing killed at least 41 citizens in Ukraine, including at a family’s hospital in Kyiv, sparking a worldwide outcry.

A beaming Mr. Modi embraced the Russian president in pictures from Moscow. A smiling Mr. Putin described Mr. Modi as “my beloved friend” and said he was “delighted to observe him” on a film that has been broadcast in India has gone viral.

Mr Modi’s two-day explore- his first to the Kremlin since 2019- coincides with a Nato conference in Washington, where the 2022 war will be a main topic.

India, a significant world economy, has ties to both Russia and the US, and its companions, and Delhi leaders are undermining concerns about Mr. Modi’s travel schedule. They claim that the annual conference is a part of a long-standing strategic collaboration and that its location is unrelated to the Nato summit.

However, the US’s issue has been replaced by a negative turn. Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, urged Mr. Modi to emphasize Ukraine’s regional morality during his meetings in Moscow.

Additionally, Mr. Miller claimed that the US had spoken to India about its relationship with Russia.

” We may need India, as we do any state when it engages with Russia, to make clear that any resolution to the conflict in Ukraine needs to be one that respects the UN mandate, that respects Ukraine’s regional dignity, Ukraine’s sovereignty”, he said at a press briefing on Monday.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky went further – and did not mince his words.

The leader of the world’s largest democracy is seen hugging the world’s most brutal criminal in Moscow on such a day, he wrote on X ( previously Twitter ) late on Monday.” It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts.

The Nato conference in Washington, which kicks off on Tuesday, is being held to commemorate the 75th commemoration of the American military alliance, which was primarily established as a buffer against the then Soviet Union following World War Two.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been strongly opposed by the NATO countries, but India and Mr. Modi have remained silent about criticizing President Putin, calling for only diplomacy and speech to end the conflict.

As Western governments try to remove Moscow by imposing restrictions, President Putin has been having summit-level discussions with leaders of vital nations like China, India, Turkey and people.

Some are now asking whether Mr Modi’s appearance in Moscow could be to Mr Putin’s benefits. Is the text India is out spreading being played into Russia’s arms?

This time, our bilateral visit is just a arranging goal,” the schedule is in order.” And that’s what it is”, Vinay Kwatra, continuous secretary to the American foreign government, told the BBC back of Mr Modi’s attend, rejecting any connection between the two situations.

Since the Cold War, India and Russia have had close ties in terms of tactical defense and defense, and Moscow continues to be a major weapons provider. India, which has one of the largest forces in the world, has long-standing boundary disputes with Pakistan and China, two of its neighbors.

According to experts, Mr. Modi’s significance to Moscow is not unexpected, and the partnership extends beyond defense purchasing.

” If you look at the historic pattern, it]Moscow ] has been one of the variables in Indian international policy”, Pankaj Saran, former American ambassador to Moscow, told the BBC.

” The key pillars of the marriage include military co-operation, energy and knowledge technology”.

Russia has over the ages provided technical support for the construction of a number of nuclear power plants in India.

After European nations imposed sanctions against Russia, Delhi has also been purchasing billions of dollars of reduced oil from Moscow since the start of the Ukraine war.

In recent years, bilateral trade between India and Russia has increased to$ 65 billion ( £50.76 billion ), driven by a rise in oil purchases. India’s exports to Russia stand at just$ 4bn.

According to Indian officials, Mr. Modi’s top priority will be to handle this industry imbalance, encourage Russian investment in India, and relocate some of its defense production to India.

In what many see as a barrier against the risk posed by an increasingly assertive China, the West, especially the US, has cultivated closer ties with India for the past 20 years.

India also joined the US, Australia, and Japan in the Quad, a corporate website intended to combat Chinese control in the Asia Pacific.

However, President Putin has strengthened his strategic and economic relations with Beijing in the face of growing American animosity. The growth has not gone undetected in India, China’s long-time enemy.

A deadly brawl on the disputed border in Ladakh region in June 2020 killed 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers and escalated tensions.

There are concerns that it might not be included in the Moscow-Beijing formula in India.

According to Mr. Saran,” One choice that Delhi is now exercising is to preserve the Russia route open in order to retain the friendship and to avoid taking any measures that may further cause Russia’s drift into Foreign arms that is being caused by US and Western policies.”

Delhi has recently expanded its arsenal by purchasing American, French, and Israeli weapons methods, but it still relys strongly on Moscow. Some have expressed concern that the Ukrainian military’s exports have been negatively impacted by the conflict in Ukraine.

There are information of delays in the distribution of the last S-400 anti-missile defense system and the supply of some free parts. Anil Trigunayat, a previous adviser and current Distinguished Fellow at the Vivekananda International Foundation in Delhi, predicts that there will undoubtedly get a discussion about this during the visit.

Delhi and Moscow are not without their own dissimilarities. There have been numerous reports of Indian immigrants who were duped into accepting offers for attractive jobs and ended up fighting for the Russian troops in Ukraine. So far in the battle, four Indians have died.

American officials demand that Mr. Modi’s visit include a press conference with Mr. Modi’s Russian counterparts to demand an first discharge of the hundreds of Indians still fighting in the war.

India is informed that to defeat China, it requires both Russia and the United States. It therefore feels like there must be a balance in order to not insult either of the two.

” India follows a policy of strategic autonomy and multi-alignments. We have corporate working relationships with both Russia and the US. These are socially exclusive partnerships”, says Mr Trigunayat.