"NEW DELHI -- A trip by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia is aimed at reinforcing India's relationship with Moscow as New Delhi strengthens ties with the U.S. to counter China.
Modi will arrive Monday, his first visit in five years. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, Modi's presence will show that Russia still has influential friends after more than two years of Western efforts to isolate the country.
The trip will be Modi's first bilateral visit of his third term. Days after taking office in June, Modi met with President Biden as well as Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Italy.
"There have been some misgivings that there is a dilution in India-Russia ties due to Western pressure," said Kanwal Sibal, a former Indian foreign secretary and former ambassador to Russia. "The visit will quell this speculation."
Modi and Putin last met in 2022 at a meeting of a regional security bloc founded by Russia and China. They are overdue to get together again based on an agreement that calls for a summit between their leaders annually.
Russia and India have enjoyed close ties dating from the Cold War era, when the Soviet Union became India's main military supplier. But in recent years, shared concerns over China's rise drawn the U.S. and India closer.
Meanwhile, Russia-China relations have flourished as the two powers band together to confront what they see as a Western campaign to hem them both in.
India is trying to offer a counterweight to U.S. and European sanctions that it believes have pushed Moscow closer to Beijing, political experts say. India wants to "ensure Russia has alternatives, that Russia isn't cornered and doesn't have to put all its eggs into the Chinese basket," said Aleksei Zakharov, a Moscow-based expert on Russia-India relations.
In India's calculus, Russia is part of its efforts to counter China. Relations have deteriorated in recent years, particularly in the wake of a 2020 clash on their disputed Himalayan border.
"It will be impossible to contain China in Asia if Russia becomes a partner of China," said Nandan Unnikrishnan, head of the Eurasia program at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi think tank." [1]
Why does India understand this better than the West?
1. World News: Modi Visit to Russia Aims to Bolster Ties, Offset China's Sway. Roy, Rajesh; Simmons, Ann M; Lahiri, Tripti. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 06 July 2024: A.7.
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