Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow on Monday for a two-day state visit that includes meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for Monday evening.
On Monday, there was lively discussion in foreign policy circles about the intended significance of Modi’s visit. Officially, the Indian government Said Modi was simply resuming long-standing bilateral summits with Russia that had been interrupted by the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. India has maintained friendly ties with Russia since the Cold War. upgrade An agreement signed in 2000 established a formal “strategic partnership.”
of The New York Times on monday thought By flying to Moscow at a time when Western countries are trying to isolate Putin and pressure him for peace, Modi wanted to demonstrate his “determination to stick to his diplomatic course”.
Meanwhile, Putin could use Modi’s visit as an opportunity to demonstrate that the Kremlin maintains a strong partnership with India despite the country’s growing ties with the United States. India buys large amounts of Russian oil at discounts, an arrangement that has greatly benefited both countries since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
Bloomberg News Guessed Modi and Putin need to resolve some thorny issues in their bilateral relationship. India is particularly concerned about Russia’s growing closer to its biggest regional rival, China, which has perhaps helped Russia weather sanctions more than India’s huge oil purchases. The large trade imbalance between India and Russia also poses political problems for Modi at home.
Petr Topičkanov of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said that while Modi and Putin have touted their close friendship in public, when the two leaders are “behind closed doors”, Putin “may face questions from Modi about Russia’s increasingly close ties with China”.
Business Insider I wondered. What if PM Modi was actively trying to rile up the US and Europe by meeting with President Putin at around the same time that NATO was meeting in Washington to discuss the Ukraine crisis?
“India’s engagement with Russia does not look good on the US at a time when Washington is trying to isolate Putin.” Business Iinsider “We have raised this issue very carefully with the Indian government,” he noted, citing US officials.
Prime Minister Modi A poignant election He won a historic third term but his power in Congress was greatly curtailed. Bharatiya Janata Party. He has strong domestic political reasons for pushing for independence and may want to use India-Russia relations as leverage to bring India more firmly into his sphere of influence and to extract more favorable terms from the United States. replace Russia is India’s largest military supplier.
The intimate visit with Putin could also be a way for Modi to signal to Western countries that he is not open to criticism of India’s internal affairs, including its human rights record.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Monday Said It was inappropriate for Prime Minister Modi, the head of a large democracy, to lend much-needed diplomatic legitimacy to President Putin, an authoritarian war criminal.
Because of Russia’s international influence, visits to Russia by leaders of major democracies like India are rare these days, so many Ukrainians may be outraged if Prime Minister Modi visits Moscow and does not publicly acknowledge the atrocities and suffering of his people. Many Russians, horrified by the Kremlin’s brutal war, may also feel betrayed.
HRW warned Modi to consider how Russia’s attempts to subjugate Ukraine resemble colonial abuses perpetrated against India before its independence from Britain in 1947, particularly Russia’s plans to erase Ukrainian history and culture.
HRW said the Modi government had a “long history of discriminating against religious minorities, suppressing civil society, and failing to protect economic and social rights.”
Modi is well aware of the criticism and has led major diplomatic battles with the United States and Canada over alleged persecution and, in some cases, intimidation. Assassinate With Sikh separatists active on foreign soil, Prime Minister Modi might find it useful to remind the West that he has at least one friend who will preach about human rights.
of The Washington Post Taken The most pessimistic take on Monday was on PM Modi’s visit to Moscow and Hungary’s Viktor Ortega.Luban’s surprise visit to Beijing came on the same day that there were signs of an emerging “multipolar, non-Western world order.”
While Modi could not have planned such a thing, his arrival in Moscow just hours after Russia’s brutal missile attacks on Kiev and other major Ukrainian cities carried powerful symbolism.
Orbán himself visited Moscow last week, infuriating European leaders who, as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christersson put it, were “sending the wrong message to the outside world.” Modi has delivered much the same message, both jumping on the bandwagon of China and Russia that the West cannot negotiate peace in Ukraine.
