India’s Modi pays Russia first visit since Ukraine invasion | News on Russia-Ukraine war

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Moscow for a two-day visit, his first since Russia deployed troops to Ukraine – a move that has complicated relations between the long-time partners and brought Russia closer to India’s rival China.

A dinner between Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin was planned for Monday, followed by talks in the Kremlin on Tuesday.

“I look forward to reviewing all aspects of bilateral cooperation with my friend President Vladimir Putin and exchanging perspectives on a range of regional and global issues,” Modi said in a statement.

“We want to play a supporting role for a peaceful and stable region.”

Landed in Moscow. I look forward to further deepening the special and privileged strategic partnership between our nations, particularly in forward-looking areas of cooperation. Stronger ties between our nations will bring great benefits to our peoples. pic.twitter.com/oUE1aC00EN

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 8, 2024

Modi last travelled to Russia in 2019, when he attended a forum in the far eastern port city of Vladivostok and met with Putin. The two leaders also met in September 2022 at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Uzbekistan.

Moscow remains a major supplier of cheap oil and weapons to India, especially since the US and its allies imposed sanctions on Russia in response to the Russia-Ukraine war, closing most Western markets to Russian exports. India now sources more than 40 percent of its oil imports from Russia, according to analysts.

But the Kremlin’s isolation from the West and its burgeoning friendship with Beijing have undermined Moscow’s time-honored partnership with New Delhi.

Western powers have also cultivated relations with India in recent years, using it as a bulwark against China and its growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region, while at the same time urging the country to keep its distance from Russia.

The China factor

Modi last visited Russia in 2019 and received Putin in New Delhi two years later, weeks before Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine in February 2022. However, the partnership between Moscow and New Delhi is strained as Russia has moved closer to China.

A confrontation in June 2020 along the disputed Sino-Indian border dramatically changed the already tense relationship between the two countries, as rival troops fought with stones, clubs and fists. At least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed. Despite talks, tensions remained.

Notably, Modi missed the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a security organization founded by Moscow and Beijing, in Kazakhstan last week.

“Defense is a priority”

Modi is expected to seek to maintain close ties with Russia, which is also a major arms supplier to India.

As Moscow’s arms industry primarily meets the needs of the Russian military in the wake of the fighting in Ukraine, India has diversified its arms procurement and is buying more goods from the United States, Israel, France and Italy.

“Defense cooperation will clearly be an area of ​​focus,” Chietigj Bajpaee, senior South Asia researcher at Chatham House, told the Associated Press, adding that 60 percent of India’s military equipment and systems “are still of Russian origin.”

“We have experienced some delays in the delivery of spare parts … following the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” he said. “I believe both countries will soon conclude an agreement on military logistics, which would pave the way for further exchanges of defense equipment.”

India’s neutral stance on the war in Ukraine supports Putin’s efforts to counter what he calls the West’s dominance in world politics.

Since 2023, the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin over his actions in Ukraine. He has hardly traveled abroad in recent years, so analysts say Modi’s trip could help the Russian president strengthen his influence.

“We see Putin on a kind of nostalgia trip – you know, he was in Vietnam, he was in North Korea,” Theresa Fallon, an analyst at the Center for Russian, European and Asian Studies, told AP.

“In my view, he is trying to show that he is not a vassal of China, that he has options and that Russia is still a great power.”

Trade development will also play an important role in the talks, particularly the intention to establish a maritime corridor between India’s largest port, Chennai, and Vladivostok, the gateway to Russia’s Far East.

Indian External Affairs Minister Vinay Mohan Kwatra told reporters on Friday that India-Russia trade has increased to nearly $65 billion in fiscal 2023-24 due to strong energy cooperation, with $60 billion of this coming from imports from Russia. He said India is trying to correct the trade imbalance by increasing its exports.

India’s major exports to Russia include medicines and pharmaceutical products, telecommunication equipment, iron and steel, marine products and machinery. Major imports from Russia include crude oil and petroleum products, coal and coke, pearls, precious and semi-precious stones, fertilizers, vegetable oil, gold and silver.

From Russia, Modi will travel to Vienna. It is the first visit by an Indian head of state to the Austrian capital since Indira Gandhi in 1983.