New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow, Russia on July 8. He is on an official visit to Russia from 8-9 July at the invitation of the Russian President Vladimir Putin for the 22nd annual summit.
The Prime Minister was received by 1st Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Denis Manturov. Manturov is senior to the Deputy Prime Minister, who received the Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Russia. In a rare gesture, the 1st Deputy PM Manturov accompanied the PM to the hotel from the airport. President Putin will host a private dinner for the Prime Minister on the day of arrival.
The next day, the PM's interactions would include an interface with the Indian community in Russia. As part of the programming elements, the PM will also lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Kremlin and thereafter the PM will visit the exhibition venue in Moscow.
But the question is how and what is the reaction of the West to the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia? What is the Western countries' stance on PM Modi's visit to Russia? Western leaders have not yet commented openly on PM Modi's visit.
On Thursday, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said his country was in constant contact with India about working together to hold Russia accountable. Obviously, both Europe and the US would not be happy to see Modi and Putin together. Both believe that Putin is responsible for the European turmoil caused by the invasion of Ukraine. However, officially Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Russia for the 22nd India-Russia Annual Summit at the invitation of Russian President Putin. There have been no bilateral meetings between the two countries during the last three years.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Dr Suvrokamal Dutta, International Conservative political economic foreign policy expert said, "The Prime Minister's visit to Russia will be significant in several senses. It's going to change the contours of the geopolitical and geo-strategic order of international relations."
"India and Russia would ink several economic, trade and defence agreements which would raise several eyebrows in the West. As an economic and strategic power of the Indo–Pacific, India is well prepared for this eyebrow-raising. West at the most would do some shadow-boxing and a few wailing before the media. The bitter truth is the West can no longer ignore or antagonise India in the Indo-Pacific and neutralise the China factor without the support of India. In today's world, the West needs India more and it's not the other way round like 30 years back".
Agenda of the meeting
On Wednesday last, Russia talked about the agenda between the two leaders, saying Putin and Modi will discuss prospects for further development of traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations as well as relevant issues of the international and regional agenda. Many Western countries are uncomfortable with Modi's visit to Russia. They wonder what else this meeting could mean.
Dr Dutta further opines that the expectation of the West wanting India to condemn Russia on the Russian-Ukraine war is not going to happen under any condition.
"India is not here to please the ears and eyes of the Western countries’ fancies. What matters to India is her own coveted National interest," Dr Dutta said.
"Prime Minister Modi can play the pivotal role of a peace-maker and resolve this deadly Russia-Ukraine conflict provided all the stakeholders including Russia, NATO, Ukraine and the USA are interested in resolving it. If the West thinks that Vladimir Putin has been isolated at the global level for his ignorance of the highest order, the bitter truth is something like staying in the deep dark dungeon of the lightless Mariana Trench refusing to recognise the light of the outside world.
"Several countries of Latin America, South America, West Asia, Middle East, Central Asia, many countries of Africa, Southeast Asia, a few countries of Eastern Europe, countries of South Asia, China, Iran are maintaining good ties with Russia. It's only the countries of NATO, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea who are at loggerheads with Russia so to say Russia is isolated is a blanket lie and a false narrative of the West and its Western media”, added Dr Suvrokamal Dutta.
PM Modi visited the Russian city of Vladivostok in 2019 to attend an economic summit. Putin and Modi last met in 2022 at the SCO summit in Uzbekistan. Putin last visited New Delhi in 2021. Modi's visit to Russia comes at a time when the United States and its European allies are trying to isolate Russia globally and impose tough sanctions on the country.
They have also drastically cut back on high-level meetings. India says its foreign policy is based on 'strategic autonomy' and 'national interest'. But given the rife anti-Russian sentiment in the West, is the visit going to anger India's strategic partner, the United States?
The decade-old Russia-India friendship
From the 1960s to the 1980s, it seemed impossible for anyone who grew up in India to escape the Soviet influence. Many of India's largest steel plants were set up by Russia. Russia even helped in Indian space programmes. Soviet Russia stood by India even in difficult circumstances. It was Soviet Russia that negotiated the historic Tashkent Agreement between India and Pakistan in 1965.
When Putin was first elected president in 2000, the two countries signed defence, space and economic agreements under the Declaration on Strategic Partnership. The S-400 missile defence system deal and energy cooperation is an example of ongoing efforts in modern times. Dealing with these complexities, India and Russia have the potential to deepen their relations. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the India-Russia relationship is a longstanding and time-tested relationship with more than 77 years of mutually beneficial diplomatic relations.
Both sides signed the Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation (1971), Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation (1993), Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership (2000) and the relations Elevated to the level of “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” in 2010.
This will be the 22nd India-Russia Annual Bilateral Summit. The 21st Bilateral Summit was held in December 2021 when President Putin visited New Delhi. PM Modi and President Putin have met 16 times over the past 10 years. The last in-person meeting between the two leaders took place in September 2022 on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. PM was conferred the highest Russian state honour (Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First) in 2019.
Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar paid a five-day visit to Russia in December 2023 during which he had also called on President Putin. S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held seven meetings in 2023. FM Lavrov visited New Delhi for the G20 Summit in September 2023. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited St Petersburg in April 2024. During his visit to Moscow in February 2023, the NSA had also called on President Putin. The Inaugural India-Russia 2+2 dialogue was held in New Delhi in December 2021.
The Bilateral Trade between India and Russia in FY 2023-24 stood at a record high of over USD 65 Billion. The 24th session of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission (IRIGC-TEC) was co-chaired by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov in New Delhi in April 2023.
