Narendra Modi to meet Putin in Russia, first visit since Ukraine war

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to arrive in Russia on Monday, as the Indian leader struggles to balance maintaining long-standing relations with Moscow with seeking closer security ties with the West.

It is Modi’s first visit since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine and since he returned to power last month as leader of the world’s most populous country.

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

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

Moscow remains a key supplier of cheap oil and arms to India, but the Kremlin’s isolation from the West and its burgeoning friendship with Beijing have taken a toll on its long-standing partnership with New Delhi.

In recent years, Western powers have also cultivated ties with India to protect it against China and its growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region, while pressuring it to distance itself from Russia.

Modi’s last visit to Russia was in 2019 and he hosted Putin in New Delhi two years later, weeks before Russia launched its offensive against Ukraine.

India has since refrained from any explicit condemnation of Russia and abstained from UN resolutions censuring Moscow.

But the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has also had a human cost for India.

New Delhi said in February it was pressuring the Kremlin to return some of its citizens who had signed up for “support jobs” with the Russian military, following reports that some of them had been killed after being forced to fight in Ukraine.

Moscow’s deepening ties with China are also a source of concern.

Washington and the European Union accuse China of selling components and equipment that have bolstered Russia’s military industry – allegations Beijing vigorously denies.

China and India are bitter rivals competing for strategic influence in South Asia.

India is part of the Quad grouping along with the US, Japan and Australia that positions itself against China’s growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

New Delhi and the Kremlin have enjoyed close relations since the Cold War, and Russia has long been India’s largest arms supplier.

But Ukraine has depleted Russia’s arms stockpiles, forcing India to consider other sources of arms supplies, including developing its own defense industry.

Russia’s share of Indian arms imports has declined significantly in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

At the same time, India has become a major buyer of Russian oil, providing a much-needed export market for Moscow after being cut off from traditional buyers in Europe.

This has radically reshaped energy ties, with India saving billions of dollars while bolstering Moscow’s war coffers.

India’s monthly imports of Russian crude “rose eight percent in May, reaching the highest levels since July 2023,” according to commodity tracking data compiled by the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research.

But it has also led to a widening of India’s trade deficit with Russia, which stood at just over $57 billion in the last financial year.

From Russia, Modi will travel to Vienna for the first visit to the Austrian capital by an Indian leader since Indira Gandhi in 1983.

bur/bc