Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow on Monday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The visit showed that India’s leaders are determined to stick to their diplomatic path even as the West continues to isolate Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
For Putin, Modi’s visit will be a way for Russia to demonstrate that the Kremlin continues to maintain a strong partnership with India despite India’s deepening ties with the United States. India’s purchases of Russian oil at discounted prices have helped fill Russian coffers depleted by international sanctions due to the war, and Russia has sought to see India as a partner in reshaping the Western-led global order.
This is Modi’s first visit to Russia in five years. He arrived at Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport to a red-carpet welcome, where he was greeted by a Russian military band and First Deputy Prime Minister Denis V. Manturov.
Modi posted a message on the social platform X after his arrival, saying that he looked forward to deepening the “special strategic partnership” between India and Russia, noting that a stronger relationship “will greatly benefit our people.”
Modi arrived on the day Russia launched a brutal aerial bombardment of Ukraine, including an attack on the country’s largest children’s hospital in Kiev. The attack drew Western condemnation and is likely to put India’s ties with Russia into the spotlight.
The South Asian country became a major buyer of cheap Russian oil when Western sanctions restricted what Russia could sell or charge for its products on international markets. India is building large nuclear power plants with technical assistance from Russia. Russia is also India’s largest arms supplier, making the relationship crucial for India as it has long defended its borders against China.
Tuesday’s meeting in Moscow coincides with the first day of a high-profile summit between NATO leaders in Washington. During the NATO meeting, Western allies are expected to announce additional air defense systems for Ukraine and pledge the alliance’s long-term commitment to Kyiv’s security.
India and Russia are long-term partners.
Indian officials told reporters in New Delhi ahead of Modi’s trip The summit between Modi and Putin was “very important” but stressed that relations with Russia were not directed against any third party. They also tried to downplay the meeting’s timetable.
“I don’t want to read anything more about its importance, except to say that we take this annual summit very seriously,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said at a press conference on Friday. .
The annual summit is an aspect of the long-term strategic partnership between India and Russia. The two leaders last met as part of this partnership in 2021, when Putin visited Delhi. Indian officials said they had met at other events and had spoken on the phone several times.
In the nearly two and a half years since his sweeping invasion of Ukraine, Putin has sought to strengthen ties with global leaders outside the West, pursuing what he calls a “multipolar” world order independent of Western influence.
With its vast economic and military resources, China has become the most important partner in this effort, but Putin has also vigorously developed relations with other countries such as Vietnam, Brazil and India to prove that Russia will not succumb to Western isolation. hope to see.
At an investment forum in Moscow last December, Putin praised Indian leaders for pursuing an independent foreign policy and refusing to succumb to Western pressure. Putin said Modi was not “intimidated, intimidated or forced to take actions or decisions that go against the interests of India and the Indian people.”
India’s relationship with Moscow and Washington is a balancing act.
For Modi, the meeting is an opportunity to demonstrate India’s determination to chart its own foreign policy path. India needs the United States and Russia to counter China and therefore constantly tries to balance the relationship between Washington and Moscow. While India has strengthened ties with Washington, it has refused to publicly condemn Russia over Ukraine despite U.S. pressure.
Happymon Jacob, an associate professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and an expert on Indian foreign policy, said Delhi may be seeking to strengthen ties with Russia to counter Russia’s growing ties with China. After Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an “unrestricted” partnership in 2022, the two sides have increasingly aligned their positions.
Jacob said that with China becoming Washington’s “main rival”, India may realize that the United States is “unlikely to punish India for continuing its relationship with Russia.”
Indian Foreign Secretary Kwatra said Modi may also discuss the controversial issue of Russia recruiting Indian nationals to fight in the war in Ukraine. He said dozens of Indian citizens were lured to Russia under “false pretenses” and the government was working to bring them back.
At the same time, India also needs U.S. support to deal with potential Chinese aggression in its own backyard. China and India have had numerous border clashes over the decades, including in 2022 and 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers died. India needs ammunition to defend its northern and eastern borders.
Military, economic and energy relations are on the agenda.
Russia is India’s largest supplier of military equipment, but its share of weapons has been declining over the years – partly because the country has older technology. India has been seeking to diversify its military supply sources and has sought to sign defense cooperation agreements, including with the United States. The United States and India have also stated that they will expand cooperation in high-tech fields such as advanced weaponry and supercomputing.
But U.S. officials are concerned about whether supplying equipment and sensitive technology to India carries the risk that the Russian military could gain access to it. During a recent visit to New Delhi, U.S. Under Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States wanted to build a strong technical relationship with India and identify “the areas that are affected by India’s ongoing relationship with Russia in the military and military areas.”
India’s defense ties with Russia “may irritate the United States, but not enough to undermine Washington’s military cooperation with India,” said Nandan Unnikrishnan, director of the Eurasia Studies Program at the Observer Research Foundation.
Unnikrishnan said he did not expect India to announce any new arms purchases from Russia during the summit. But he thinks leaders are likely to announce deals on trade, investment and energy cooperation.
Indian officials said India’s trade imbalance with Russia will be Modi’s top priority. India exported only $4 billion worth of goods to Russia and imported $65 billion worth of goods, mostly due to large purchases of oil. India hopes to increase exports to Russia across the board, including agriculture, pharmaceuticals and services.
Paul Sonnet Berlin contributed to this report.
