Photographs arriving from Moscow of Modi embracing the Russian president as he makes his first visit to Russia since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 send a clear signal that the South Asian power will maintain deep ties with Russia despite the Biden administration’s attempts to woo the Russian premier. They also show that Putin is not as isolated as the White House would like.
The Moscow visit, which coincided with a three-day NATO meeting in Washington, was greeted with surprise in Washington and Kiev. Asked about Modi’s meeting with Putin, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters at a press conference: “We have made our concerns about India-Russia relations clear and direct to India.”
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the meeting, posting a photo of a children’s hospital in Kiev that was hit by a Russian missile attack on Monday. “It is a great disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy embracing the world’s bloodiest criminals in Moscow on a day like this,” Zelenskyy wrote.
The meeting symbolized a meeting between two leaders who need each other but who are growing closer to rival camps led by the United States and China, respectively. For Modi, Russia remains a vital source of arms, energy and space technology that India needs to become a great power, and analysts say India does not want Russia to become too dependent on rival China.
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Meanwhile, Putin’s war chest is largely funded by India’s purchases of Russian petroleum products, which have increased nearly 20-fold since 2021. Russia similarly wants India to maintain some distance from the United States, with Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov this week deriding Western countries as “jealous” of Russia’s relationship with India.
The Moscow meeting appeared to deepen what the two countries called their “special and privileged strategic relationship.” As Modi wrapped up his visit on Tuesday evening, Indian and Russian officials announced ambitions to expand annual trade to $100 billion by 2030 and forge long-term agreements for oil and gas supplies while diversifying trade beyond the energy sector.
The two countries signed an agreement to cooperate on polar research, and in a speech to Indian residents in Moscow, Prime Minister Modi announced the opening of new consulates in Kazan and Yekaterinburg to strengthen ties between the two peoples.
“India and Russia, walking side by side, are injecting new energy into global prosperity,” Prime Minister Modi said in his speech. “Every time Russia is mentioned, Indians are reminded of a trusted friend and ally that has stood by India in good times and bad.”
Soon after Modi arrived on Monday evening, the two leaders displayed their friendship by sipping tea on the outdoor terrace of the Russian prime minister’s official residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, near Moscow.
“It’s an honour to visit my friend’s home,” Modi said after warmly embracing Putin in one of his trademark hugs, according to footage released by Russian state media. Putin congratulated Modi on his recent re-election win and showed him around the manicured grounds of his dacha in a golf cart, according to official footage.
On Tuesday, Putin took Modi on a tour of an exhibition of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation. Rosatom officials said this week they were in talks to build six new nuclear plants in India, a country experiencing rapid growth and soaring energy demand.
Modi’s visit to Moscow came less than a month after he was sworn in for a third term, breaking with Indian tradition of his prime ministers visiting a South Asian country first after elections. But Indian analysts said the trip demonstrated Modi’s global ambitions and was an opportunity to show Putin that India has not lost its autonomy despite receiving new investments, technology and weapons from the Biden administration.
“His decision to step down so early in his term signals India’s continued commitment to its relationship with Russia. It is part of India’s non-partisan foreign policy,” said Pankaj Saran, a former Indian ambassador to Russia and current vice national security adviser who continues to advise the Indian government.
Saran added that the Indian administration still sees ties with the U.S. as a top priority. India may try to assuage U.S. concerns by arguing that its friendly ties with Russia make it useful as a potential mediator between Moscow and the West, he said.
During his formal meeting with Putin at the Kremlin on Tuesday afternoon, Modi called for “dialogue” to end the fighting in Ukraine, indirectly addressing the attack on a hospital in Kiev the previous day that Zelensky blamed Russia for. “Anyone who believes in humanitarianism is outraged when lives are lost in war or terrorist attacks,” Modi told Putin. “Yet it pains us to see innocent children being killed.”
Putin responded: “I appreciate your attention to the most pressing issues, including finding ways to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, which, of course, we are trying to resolve primarily through peaceful means.”
Indian External Affairs Minister Vinay Kwatra told reporters that, at Modi’s request, Russia would work to discharge all Indian nationals currently serving in the Russian military.
The issue became politically charged in India this year after reports emerged that Indians seeking jobs such as “guards” and porters were being conscripted by Russia and sent to fight on the front lines, possibly against their will. Indian authorities say at least four Indians have been killed in combat so far.
India’s relationship with Russia was cemented during the Cold War, but energy and defense ties between the world’s largest arms buyer and third-largest oil importer continue to thrive. India’s imports of Russian crude oil are set to rise to $46.5 billion by 2023, up from $2.5 billion in 2021, before the invasion of Ukraine, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Commerce. Only China bought more Russian oil last year.
Indian officials say the price is below the $60 a barrel cap imposed by the G7, and the United States has refrained from criticizing India’s purchases. But the deal is hugely profitable for Russia, and Indian officials are beginning to worry about a widening trade deficit with Russia.
U.S. officials have publicly and privately urged India to stop using Russian weapons, but Russian state-owned arms manufacturer Rostec said last week it would make armor-piercing tank shells in India for supply to the Indian military.
With Russia increasingly seen as a junior partner of Beijing, Indian officials expect Putin to maintain some independence from China in exchange for Indian support. India and China have been locked in a tense border dispute since 2020.
While Prime Minister Modi, leader of the world’s largest democracy, welcomes Putin, it has become clear that the Russian leader is brutally using his country’s justice system for political purposes. A Russian court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic prison earlier this year. Navalnaya, who lives outside Russia, had been accused of membership in extremist communities.
Navalny has accused Putin of killing her husband, who survived an earlier attempt by Russian security forces to assassinate him with banned chemical weapons. Many world leaders have condemned Navalny’s death, with some, including Biden, saying Putin was responsible.
In a former Twitter handle, Ms Navalnaya mocked the judicial process in which she has faced numerous allegations since taking over her husband’s job abroad.
“Oh no, no normal procedure? Foreign agents, criminal case and arrest?” she posted. “When you write about this, remember to write the main thing: Vladimir Putin is a murderer and a war criminal. His place is in prison. Not in a cozy cell with a TV somewhere in The Hague, but in the same 2m x 3m cell in the same Russian colony where he killed Alexei.”
For Putin, Modi’s visit, which ended on Tuesday, is a further opportunity to show that he is not entirely alone in the Ukraine war.
“For Putin, this is very important – international recognition,” said the Russian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter. By promoting India-Russia ties, Putin can also boost Russia’s standing vis-à-vis China, he said.
A Russian official close to a senior Russian diplomat said Putin’s visit to North Korea last month “was not very well received in Beijing.”
“When we became totally dependent on China, suddenly we visited North Korea and now we are balancing with India,” the Russian official said. “In such a triangle, [Putin] It helps to balance the situation and show that you are not completely subservient.”
Belton reported from London and Ilyushina from Berlin. Anant Gupta in New Delhi contributed to this report.