Behind Modi’s Putin hug: Is India betting on Trump winning in November?

Modi’s Russia visit has drawn criticism from the US and Ukraine, but analysts say the bad optics might soon be forgotten.

New Delhi, India – When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets any male world leader, a bear hug is almost inevitable. Yet his embrace last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow has stirred firm public pushback from both Washington and Kyiv.

In a series of statements over several days, US officials criticised Modi’s visit to Russia, the first since Putin launched a full-scale war on Ukraine in February 2022.

The US National Security adviser cautioned that strong ties with Russia were a “bad bet” for India. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the US was concerned about India’s relations with Russia. And Eric Garcetti, the US ambassador to India, warned New Delhi that it could not take its friendship with Washington “for granted”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was more direct. He referred to the deadly missile attack on Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital the day before Modi’s Moscow visit. “It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day,” he wrote on X.

In Ukraine today, 37 people were killed, three of whom were children, and 170 were injured, including 13 children, as a result of Russia’s brutal missile strike.

A Russian missile struck the largest children's hospital in Ukraine, targeting young cancer patients. Many were… pic.twitter.com/V1k7PEz2rJ

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 8, 2024

So, did India miscalculate the geopolitical response to Modi’s trip? Has the visit to Moscow and the public