Modi’s Russia visit part of India strategy to boost security amid China tensions: analysts

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Russia has raised alarm among Western allies, but analysts say it is part of New Delhi’s strategy to shore up its own security amid increased tensions with China.

Modi’s visit dealt a blow to the West’s efforts to isolate Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. That it coincided with Russian military strikes destroying a children’s hospital in Kyiv drew sharp rebukes from Western commentators.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also criticised Modi’s visit as a “huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts” in a social media post.

Indian analysts say such comments fail to recognise that Delhi has for decades been dependent on Russian arms and equipment and therefore wants to ensure that Moscow’s growing tilt towards China does not compromise its own security.

“This idea that India will continue to engage with Russia is for very valid reasons. It has to stand up to China at its borders and it does need Russian support for that,” said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor at King’s College London.

Relations between Delhi and Beijing have remained strained ever since their troops clashed on their Himalayan border in 2020.

More than half of India’s weapons and defence equipment are of Russian origin, though in recent years it has started leaning more on the West. Russia’s growing ties with China at the same time have emerged as a source of worry for Delhi.

Western analysts have underscored the ties between Beijing and Moscow to caution Delhi about the dangers of courting Russian leader Vladimir Putin, with US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller saying Washington had made its “concerns about India’s relationship with Russia”