2024-08-28 21:37:14
After his visit to Russia in early July, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also traveled to Ukraine. Is India more successful with its peace initiative than China?
It was a major scandal, at least from a Western perspective. When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow in July, he greeted Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin with a warm embrace. The images were given a big performance by Russian propaganda on state television. The message: leading heads of state are still coming to the Russian capital and Putin is neither internationally isolated nor are major powers such as China or India distancing themselves from him. On the contrary: the Russian president is being embraced.
The Ukrainian leadership in particular criticized Modi for his closeness to Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: “It is a great disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy embracing the world’s bloodiest criminal in Moscow on such a day.”
But now both have had the chance to discuss these differences in person. Modi traveled to Ukraine on Friday and also hugged Zelensky in greeting. During a visit to Kyiv on Friday, India’s prime minister offered to act as a “friend” to help bring about peace. In joint statements to reporters on Friday, Modi called for a dialogue between Russia and Ukraine at the earliest possible date. “The path to a solution can only be found through dialogue and diplomacy. And we should move in this direction without wasting any time.” But whether that is even realistic remains unclear.
But is India really concerned about peace? Geographically, Ukraine is far away from India. That is why peace is of secondary importance to Modi. He is more concerned with his country’s interests in Ukraine. India is pursuing a risky policy of balancing between the West and Russia – and the Indian Prime Minister is not at all interested in weakening Putin for his own strategic reasons. But how long will this strategy work?
For Modi, his visits to Eastern Europe are a difficult balancing act. Only on Thursday, during a visit to Poland, the Indian Prime Minister called for negotiations in the war between Russia and Ukraine. “India firmly believes that no problem can be solved on a battlefield,” Modi said at a joint appearance with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk in Warsaw. His country supports “dialogue and diplomacy.”
But is this really true? The truth behind India’s peace statements and behind Modi’s smile is brutal to say the least.
India is not really doing much to initiate peace processes in the Ukraine conflict. That would not be the task of the Indian leadership either, since the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine does not directly affect Indian security interests. But as the most populous democracy, India is under special international observation. Also because the country has started to profit financially from the war.
India is the second largest importer of Russian oil after China, and its imports have increased by 111 percent between 2022 and 2023. Indian companies benefit twice: On the one hand, Putin has to sell his oil cheaply on the world market due to Western sanctions, and on the other hand, India earns a lot of money by converting the crude oil into other oil products such as diesel and selling them to Europe.