Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin courting 'each other' has dealt a major blow to the notion that Russia can be globally isolated.
India’s procurement of Russian weapons has dropped over the last four years, Moscow remains its top military supplier.
This is challenging time. But the 'challenge' is also for the global stalwart called Donald Trump and his country the United States.
There is 'decline' of the United States and both Modi and Putin now "cherish" every opportunity of the high drama at the global stage that would prove that his vision for the world – and the rise of multi-polarity.
But Putin is also sending a signal to Beijing. By showing that it has other international partners including India and a leadership like Narendra Modi; Putin hopes to ensure China does not take its relationship with Moscow for granted.
And as they say -- the game is not without risks.
It is a fact that China has enormous economic leverage over Russia, one that India comes nowhere close to matching. Nearly half of Russian oil and gas exports end up in China, which also serves as an essential supplier of industrial equipment and electronics.
Moreover, the Chinese Yuan is now the main currency traded on the Moscow stock exchange.
PM Narendra Modi has been frank with Putin. His approach has been calling spade a spade.
He had said earlier - "this is not an era of war". The Prime Minister has been rather critical of the Russian invasion. He even reportedly told Putin, during their get-together, that “when innocent children are killed, the heart bleeds and that pain is very terrifying”.
On the other hand Xi Jinping has been calculative like communists approach often is. China has been very patient with Putin, whom it values as an important strategic partner in the context of the rising threat of a Sino-American confrontation.
Whatever jealousies he may have over Putin’s flirtation with Modi, Xi will probably put them aside in the name of his broader strategic purpose. He may even do a better job engaging Putin, for example by finally delivering on the promise to contract for another big gas pipeline from Russia to China, thus throwing a lifeline to the pitiful Gazprom that has lost access to its former European markets.
Xi certainly will not put Putin under any stress over Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine.
The India-Russia relationship runs deep, dating back to the cold war, and Russia has long been the largest supplier of arms to India.
Since he was elected in 2014, Modi has built up a much-publicised rapport with Putin, the two leaders having had more than 20 meetings.
However, Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine in February 2022 put an unprecedented strain on their ties and forced India to tread a tricky path in balancing its relationships with both Putin and the west.
India has all throughout refused to join western countries in condemning Putin’s invasion and abstained from all UN votes denouncing Russia.
It also eagerly became the largest buyer of cheap Russian oil, still sending billions to the country’s coffers, which was seen by some to undermine western sanction efforts. Nonetheless, India’s displeasure with Putin’s actions was not entirely concealed, with Modi stating that “now is not the era for war”.
Modi's decision to strengthen his relationship with the western leaders who are Putin’s biggest critics, including the US president, Joe Biden, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been met frostily in the corridors of the Kremlin.
(snap - CNN website)
Putin and Modi at Shanghai Coop. Organization Summit, Sept 1, 2025, in Tianjin, China.
Similarly, Putin’s increasingly close ties with Beijing are viewed with great suspicion in New Delhi, where China is viewed as the greatest threat.
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Trump’s first administration, as well as that of Joe Biden, saw India as a vital counterweight to China, and boosted strategic ties with New Delhi through technology transfers and joint military drills.
Modi also shared a rapport with Trump, a fellow right-wing populist with a flair for turning diplomatic relations into grand spectacles. The Indian leader hosted the US president in his first term and cast aside diplomatic protocol to campaign for his counterpart’s second term during a rally in Houston, titled “Howdy Modi!”
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