For India-Russia partnership, Moscow must do its fair share
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has been a vocal critic of India’s membership of the Quad and its relationship with the US. But if Moscow expects India to play cool with its relationship with China, it needs to lend the same courtesy to the India-US relationship
PM Modi, President Putin arrive at PM's official residence (X/@narendramodi) Russian President Vladimir Putin is on his first state visit to India since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. The visit has already ruffled feathers in diplomatic circles. First, the heads of the French, German and British diplomatic missions in India mounted a scathing attack on Russia for sabotaging peace in Europe. The Russian ambassador struck back, justifying the cause of the war and criticising Europe’s lack of seriousness towards ending it.
India’s struggle has been real, often exposing its limits in balancing relations with the US, the EU, and Russia. Consequently, commentators and the government have gone on the offensive to defend ties with Russia. But now, it is high time the Kremlin took the onus for its actions that have undermined India-Russia relations. Four years since the invasion, Russia stands isolated in the international economic order. Its major export to the world, energy, is largely substitutable. The Russian economy is deeply integrated with the world economy. That leaves Russia extremely vulnerable to economic coercion. Even its closest friend, China, which holds substantial influence, couldn’t pull Russia out of the mess. Eventually, even Beijing had to halt the settlement of payments owing to fears of secondary sanctions. The majority of Russia’s trade with China is still being settled via underground channels. If anything, Russia has reduced itself to selling off its goods and energy at an extremely discounted price.
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