Significance of Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia
Ties between India and Russia remains as strong as ever
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a State visit to Russia from July 8 to 9. This is a clear demonstration of Indian FREE WILL and indicator of India’s growing strength and clout. The visit is of significance as it is taking place when India’s ties with China seems to be frozen. Xi Jinping is mired and entangled with internal political cleansings and consolidation of his own position and trying to salvage the mounting economic problems.
The Indo US relations too are under strain because India has point blank rejected all USA sanctions on Russia and has refused to be part of any anti China military block. India is also fully aware of groups and entities mostly operating from American soil who recently tried tour level best to interfere in the Indian General Elections. Some like Hindenberg Group also tried to disrupt India economically through an attack on its Share Market. Just a few days back people like Blinken and Eric Garcetti have shown the audacity to lecture / threaten India because of India’s outright rejection of USA sanctions on Russua,. Surely India needs to send strong signals against these things.
As India formulates its own independent foreign and economic policies, Modi’s visit to Russia going to reaffirm and further strengthen India’s historically strong ties with Russia and restore strategic balance in geopolitics.
Nowadays it is India which is the counterweight to the US, Russia and China’s geopolitical swings. Besides this balancing action in this multipolar World, there are key bilateral issues between India and Russia that need to be attended to.
Russia has been a major supplier of crude oil to India at a concessional rate. The oil trade is taking place after India outright rejected US sanctions. However there is a payment methodology issue regarding oil imports from Russia because of USA and Western sanctions. India is favouring all trades in Indian Rupee/ Russian Rouble.
India also wants to revive the Chennai-Vladivostok maritime route, which is not only the shortest and cheapest trade route between India and Russia but also away from the Chaotic Middle East / Gulf route. Also in the pipeline is the Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) with Russia, pending since long. When operationalised it will streamline things for various bilateral defence deals.
Prime Minister Modi did not visit Russia after 2015, though They have been meeting on and off in various other places. Also since 2015, Indo US defence deals have been on the upswing ( though nowhere near Russian deals ) and India joined the QUAD grouping. These things have given out a negative impression of Indo Russian ties.
The Moscow visit will signal to the US and the West, that it is India that will continue to “balance ties” between the West and the East and that it cannot be Coerced or even cajoled to collaborate with the West on Ukraine conflict against Russia nor can the West turn India into an Asian “ Ukraine “ to fight with China militarily. India is very much capable of handling China on its own in all spheres but will always give preference to PANCHSHEEL.
Various reasons are given for the deterioration of Indi-US ties despite the huge arms purchases running into billions of dollars and the public display of bonhomie with frequent references to “shared values.”
As some American “ Experts “ on India like Dr. Ashely Tellis and Dr. Daniel Markey of the US Institute of Peace, have finally realized that the two countries can never be “natural allies” just because both are democracies. India an emerging super power cannot be an American lackey like UK has been since World War 2.
How can India ever forget the actions of that wretched Nixon sending a nuclear armed flotilla led by USS Enterprise to eBay of Bengal in 1971 to coerce India? Also India will never go to war against China as QUAD partner in spite huge issues over the Indo Tibet border and independence of Tibet. No wonder USA has been forced to create AUKUS.
The killing of a Canadian terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada itself allegedly by Indian agents and the alleged Indian plan to kill an American terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in the US have both Canada and the US running in circles. Both countries are trying to blame India, whereas it is they who have been supporting ( or turning a blind eye ) to the activities of these anti India terrorists / separatists groups on their soil.
Canada is trying to investigate the “Indian involvement “ in killing of Canadian terrorist Nijjar, in which India has strongly denied any role and rejected all Canadian contentions. There has been a diplomatic Tit for Tat too. Regarding American terrorist Pannun, however, India has said that it will look into the American allegation.
The nationalist opinion in India is that the US and Canada have wronged India by criticising it for taking action to defend its territorial integrity against foreign terrorists/ separatists operating from safe havens abroad. India too can have its own “OSAMA BIN LADEN “ moments !!!!
US could have been using Nijjar and Pannun cases to wrest some strategic concessions from India on Kashmir, Ukraine, sanctions on Russia, Iran, China and trade related issues. However India has stood its ground and refused to budge.
India has refused to work with the biased UN moves on Iran. Most recently, it has refused to condemn Russia – Ukraine conflict which reminds us of CUBAN CRUSIS of 1962.
Daniel Markley has even shown the temerity to write : “Ever since Narendra Modi became the Indian Prime Minister nine years ago, India’s status as a democracy has become increasingly suspect. The world’s largest democracy has seen an upsurge in violence directed at its Muslim minority, often whipped up by prominent politicians. It is trying to strip citizenship from millions of Muslim residents. It is muzzling the press and silencing opposition figures. The Biden administration, having cast itself as a vocal champion of democratic ideals, therefore finds itself on shaky ground whenever it characterises the United States’ partnership with India as one of shared values.”
Markley and his ilk are fully aware of sentiments of Indians towards USA being reciprocated in equal measures. How USA a so called democratic nation has always been backing dictators all over the World. How USA has been treating its minorities. USA violations of all Human Rights and killing of civilians including women and children in various countries where USA forces have been invading in name of fighting for democracy. Markley talks of Indian citizenship laws without even probably reading it. Whereas USA itself has been detaining immigrants coming through Mexican borders in most inhuman ways and the Islamic phobia demonstrated by the USA immigration officials on daily basis was faced even by India’s Bollywood top star.
So when a visibly angry US President Joe Biden did not accept India’s invitation to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2024, India just ignored it, tore up the invitation card and invited the French President Emmanuel Macron.
Coming to China, India has grave and long-standing issues with China. India-China relations remain frozen because of direct conflicts starting 1962. Besides the 1962 war, which lasted several weeks, across the Indo Tibetan border on the LAC in Eastern Ladakh there was a serious standoff in April 2020. India and China have had several rounds of diplomatic and military level meetings on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) but with little or no effect.
India has maintained that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the situation on the LAC remains abnormal, the Indo Tibetan border remains un demarcated and Tibet issue not negotiated.
The Indian people and the Indian Parliament do not recognise China’s sovereignty over Tibet (thus giving shelter to the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on humanitarian grounds and permitting functioning of Tibetan Government and Parliament in Exile ). China also continues to claim the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh calling it “Southern Tibet”.
China holds several thousand square kilometres of Indian territory in Ladakh and Shakshagam Valley and has been trying in the past to encroach more territory through salami slicing tactics. A stop was put to this in Galwan Valley which resulted in physical unarmed clash wherein Indo lost twenty soldiers and China lost 40 killed and 44wounded. China also gives unstinted support to Pakistan and is always on the lookout for mischief in India’s sphere of influence
China keeps harping to delink the border issue and foster economic ties, pointing to the burgeoning bilateral trade, which has touched INR 1006400 Crores this year. But despite the growing trade, India has rejected the move to improve ties insisting that China should resolve the Indo Tibetan international border first.
But there is no indication that China is ready to do so.
Indian PM has also started avoiding summits in which China is present. As such, instead of Prime Minister Modi, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will attend the Shanghai Corporation Organization (SCO) Summit in Kazakhstan this week. Will Modi go to Russia for the BRICS summit in October? In both SCO and BRICS China is a founding member.
India will always remain close to Russia because Russia has never let down India at crucial moments. Both countries have taken that extra care to look after each other’s interests.
The Soviet Union helped mediate a cease-fire between India and Pakistan
In the 1965 war. Then, during India’s war with Pakistan in December 1971, the Soviet Union used its veto to support India at the UN Security Council. The US, on the other hand, sent an aircraft carrier to the Bay of Bengal in support of Pakistan and a UK Squadron was there in the Arabian Sea.
India and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of peace, friendship, and cooperation in August 1971. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it was replaced by the Treaty of Indo-Russian Friendship and Cooperation in January 1993.
In the early 1990s, the USSR accounted for 70% of Indian Army weapons, 80% of its Air Force systems, and 85% of its Navy platform. India bought its first supersonic jets, missile boats, modern destroyers, frigates and even a nuclear submarine an aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya and S400 missile defence systems from Russia.
Today India is rapidly moving to indigenous systems and slowly becoming an exporter of military systems. Here too BRAHMOS cruise missile the star unbeatable product has come up with Russian collaboration only.
