There is great anticipation ahead of a visit to Russia by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is expected within days. Analysts say it could help dispel worries that New Delhi is getting too close to the West and further away from Moscow, ceding space to China. No dates have yet been set for the visit, although it has been confirmed by both sides.
Indian media say Modi will be in Moscow next week, around the time of a NATO summit in Washington, at which Ukraine will be one of the main issues. While the West has tried to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin, China, India and powers in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America have continued to build ties, with official figures showing rising trade with Russia. “It will be a good opportunity for Moscow to project in the media the image of President Putin receiving a leader of a country like India in the context of the Washington summit,” said Aleksei Zakharov, a Moscow-based expert on India told Reuters.
“India’s objective is to ensure that Russia is not in China’s corner and that, even if it does not explicitly support India, it maintains a permanent neutrality in the India-China territorial disputes.” Ties between India and China have been frosty since a deadly border war in 2020. The leaders of Russia and India have held annual summits since 2000 but the last in-person meeting was in 2021, when Putin visited Delhi.
The next meeting had been due in Moscow in 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, but it did not happen, while Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping elevated their ties, pledging a “new era” of partnership in May.
The two are meeting at a security summit on Wednesday in Kazakhstan, to which Modi has sent his foreign minister. India has also been seeking to distance itself from its largest arms supplier, Russia, as the Ukraine war hobbled the latter’s ability to supply munitions and spares.
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