What should normally have been a routine annual summit and bilateral between two friends had to become a big show of optics in quick hugs and another episode of limousine diplomacy — in an interesting choice of a “made in India” car — as the US was bound to have been watching Mr Putin in India with added interest
With India’s strategic trajectory swinging to a post-Trump 2.0 realignment, the visit of the Russian President Vladmir Putin assumed a larger-than-life dimension. Thanks to US tariffs and sanctions, it is a very old, time-tested friendship with Russia that India leans on now as its calculus of national interest points it squarely in this direction.
What should normally have been a routine annual summit and bilateral between two friends had to become a big show of optics in quick hugs and another episode of limousine diplomacy — in an interesting choice of a “made in India” car — as the US was bound to have been watching Mr Putin in India with added interest.
The warm and genuine welcome may even have seduced the guest to speak extensively of peace in Ukraine after Mr Trump’s peace overtures had been rebuffed in a stern reply from the Russian President asking Ukraine to withdraw from the Donbas failing which it would seize it by force, no matter how long it takes.
India’s position may have been nearer to neutral on the Ukraine war, which may not have pleased the US and the West but Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declaration that India was on the side of peace may have set the tone for Mr Putin to speak about the war in New Delhi.
A tri-services guard of honour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and a visit to the memorial of the apostle of peace were formal events that stressed the importance of the state visit, but the host country’s focus was more on pursuing its national interests that trump everything else, particularly in the face of shifting geopolitics.
The ballooning trade deficit in the region of $60 billion-plus, owing to large purchases of Russian oil but which tapered off to near nil this month after US sanctions, the need to modernise India’s forces with more Russian assistance by way of supply as well as technology transfer and finding avenues for Indian workforce in view of abnormal restrictions the Trump regime has been imposing were addressed in the bilateral meeting culminating in valuable memoranda of agreements.
Crude oil may not have come up for discussion at the table though Mr Putin was heard wondering how the US can buy nuclear fuel from Russia while objecting to India purchase of Russian oil and gas. It was, however, stressed that energy was a core pillar of India-Russia partnership with Mr Putin particularly mentioning how Russia was helping create the world’s largest nuclear power facility at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu by operationalising two more reactors.
Trade expansion, to $100 billion by 2030 from the current $68 bn, co-production and co-innovation goals were on a mutual wish list even as exciting interactions in space, AI and shipbuilding in line with “Made in India” aspirations got positive mention in the meeting. A proposal for an India-Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) free trade agreement also holds much promise towards sealing a partnership that has stood the test of time.
The American and European obsession with Mr Putin in the light of Russian invasion of Ukraine may have led to their maligning of the Russian leader, including in a bizarre Op-Ed article that European envoys to India wrote. It only invited opprobrium from two nations whose long-standing ties may only strengthen. No one supports a war and India’s contention is why blame it. The message is clear, which is that nothing in the multipolar world will be allowed to come in the way of India-Russia friendship.
