Bali echoed PM advice to Putin, now CIA chief says Modi concern has had impact on Russians

Asked where he saw it going, he said, “Well, I think the sabre-rattling is meant to intimidate. We don’t see any clear evidence today of plans to use tactical nuclear weapons.”

“We have made very clear, the (US) President has made very clear to the Russians what the serious risks of that would be. I think it’s also been very useful that Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi in India have also raised their concerns about the use of nuclear weapons as well. I think that’s also having an impact on the Russians,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seen during the closing ceremony of G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. (Twitter/MEAIndia)

The CIA chief’s comments are perceived as an endorsement of India’s carefully calibrated position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While not explicitly criticising Moscow for the war, Delhi has raised concerns on the Bucha massacre of civilians as well as Putin’s nuclear rhetoric.

In September, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Modi told Putin that this was “not an era of war” – and this was also reflected in the Bali Declaration of the G20 Summit last month.

India’s diplomatic tightrope walk is seen as paying some dividends as it seeks to balance Western interests and Russian sensitivities.

On December 16, days after it became clear that Prime Minister Modi was not going to Russia for the annual summit this year, Putin and he discussed the situation in Ukraine and India-Russia bilateral ties in a telephone conversation. This was their fifth phone conversation since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Asked about cooperation between the Russians and the Chinese, Burns, who served as Deputy Secretary of State in the Obama administration, said, “I don’t think any foreign leader has paid more careful attention to that war and Russia’s poor military performance than Xi Jinping has, as he thinks about his own ambitions in Taiwan and elsewhere.”

“A few weeks before Putin launched his invasion in Ukraine, when they met at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, they proclaimed a friendship without limits. So, it turns out that there actually are some limits to that partnership, at least in terms of President Xi’s reluctance to supply the kind of military assistance to Putin that he’s asked for in the course of the war in Ukraine.”

“So, I wouldn’t underestimate for a moment the commitment between the Chinese and Russian leaderships to that partnership. But it’s been interesting to watch the Chinese leadership’s reaction to the war in Ukraine,” he said.