Narendra Modi to meet Putin as India seeks to balance relations with West and its antagonists

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow, his first trip to the Kremlin since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Analysts say Modi is charting his own geopolitical course, positioning India as a counterweight to Russia’s growing ties with China while building relations with the United States.

India has maintained an ambivalent attitude toward the war in Ukraine and has avoided criticizing Moscow, while buying Russian oil, despite tough Western sanctions and US efforts to make Putin a global pariah. Ultimately, Modi’s ties to the Kremlin “may be a source of irritation for the US, but are not enough to derail Washington’s military cooperation with India,” said an expert at a New Delhi-based think tank.