India and the Ukraine war: Modi’s consideration for Russia

India and Russia maintain close ties, and that is becoming a problem for Prime Minister Modi: he is avoiding condemning the Ukraine war and would like to expand cooperation. There is resentment in the country.

“It is with great sadness that we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in the shelling of Kharkiv.” The Indian government spread the news of his death via Twitter. The 21-year-old medical student was apparently killed by a missile on his way to Kharkiv train station.

Thousands of families in India are currently afraid of such news, because they are waiting for their daughters and sons who are studying in Ukraine. More than 9,000 Indian students are still in the war zone. India’s government is trying feverishly to get them out of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls Vladimir Putin in Moscow almost every day. India and Russia – Modi and Putin – have maintained close contacts for years.

abstention and silence

India abstained on the UN Security Council resolution against Russia’s invasion last week. In its statement, New Delhi only regretted that calls for diplomatic talks and dialogue were not heeded.

While India indirectly called on Moscow to respect international law, it did not condemn the invasion of Ukraine. Russia praised India’s abstention at the UN Security Council. In Western European capitals and the US, New Delhi’s stance is perceived as de facto support for Putin’s aggressive course.

criticism in the press

In India, criticism of the course taken by Prime Minister Modi and his right-wing BJP government is now being voiced. “Delhi has no reason to follow Putin’s fateful path. New Delhi must recognize that Putin and Russia are not the same,” the Indian Express newspaper commented.

Russia was the biggest partner in modernizing India. India’s elite must now decouple their sympathy for Russia from Putin’s self-destructive imperial project.

Close military cooperation

But this is countered by India’s security interests, which are closely linked to Russia, Chitrapu Uday Bhaskar, director of the Society for Political Studies in New Delhi, points out ARD pointed out that “more than half of the weapons presented at this year’s Independence Day military parade came from Russia”.

The Russian S-400 missile defense system is currently being installed on the Pakistani border. India’s justification for the million-dollar arms deal is to protect itself from attacks by Pakistani and Chinese sides. In return, India produces Kalashnikovs for Russia.

Biden still wants to clarify something

When US President Joe Biden was asked at a press conference about India’s position on the Ukraine conflict, he answered only briefly: “We will hold consultations with India. We haven’t fully clarified that yet.”

The US is also concerned with another question. It’s about possible sanctions against India for buying the S-400 missiles. The 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Caatsa) prohibits arms deals with Russia, Iran and North Korea.

Russia has embraced India’s growing ties with the US over the past two decades, but Ukraine could now become a test case for New Delhi. India is also reportedly looking to strengthen its rupee-ruble trade pact with Moscow. This would undermine Western efforts to isolate Russia from the global financial system.

Risky balancing act

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine makes India’s balancing act between Moscow and the West seem more shaky than ever, political observers say.

The Indian daily newspaper “The Economic Times” ran the headline: “21-year-old student is the first Indian victim of Putin’s war”. For Modi, a friend of Putin, the war in Ukraine could become politically sensitive.

Modi wants to be re-elected prime minister in 2024. His party, the BJP, is already campaigning.