India's Modi sets new trend in Moscow: Ukraine not longer important in relationship

Volodymyr Zelensky was furious to see Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi talking to each other as long-time friends. The West was dumbfounded at the new trend — foreign countries no longer take the Ukrainian crisis into their account when it comes to relations with Russia.

Photo: Government of India by Prime Minister's Office, https://creativecommons.org/public-domain/pdm/

Modi refuses to take "moral stance” on Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his opinion about the Russia-India summit in Moscow:

"It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world's largest democracy putting his arms around the world's deadliest criminal in Moscow on a day like this."

He referred to the day when a Western-made air defense missile hit the children's hospital in Kyiv, but Zelensky had not yet seen the evidence at the time when he said the above.

The Independent wrote that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was criticized in the West for greeting his "colleague” Vladimir Putin with his "trademark bear hug.”

US defence analyst Derek Grossman, who expected Modi to "refuse to do this,” set out a hope that India would still decide to take a "moral position in relation to Ukraine.” According to Grossman, "signals from Modi” in Russia demonstrate that India, like the United States, "will continue to put national interests above everything else.”

French writer Nicolas Tenzer said that Modi was pursuing selfish interests by "embracing Putin" supposedly to get cheap oil.

"Modi is not a friend of democracy or the West,” wrote another user Ron Delnevo, The Independent noted.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington expressed its concerns to India about its relations with Russia directly and clearly.

"India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in a full and frank dialogue. And that includes our concerns about their relationship with Russia," Miller said.

Modi sets new trend in relations with Russia

The most important outcome of the summit in Moscow is that the event was not about Ukraine, although Modi and Putin discussed it — the summit was about Russia-India relations. The meeting in Moscow also showed that sober-minded politicians can only care less about the signals that need to be sent to Ukraine and the West. They simply do their job in their national interests.

Indian Prime Minister Modi does not notice the fussy mediation and "fight” around Ukraine comes as the biggest annoying factor for Russia's opponents.

The West let Modi buy oil and weapons from Russia, but he "betrayed" the supposedly common cause. This attitude towards the West may well become a global trend. The Ukrainian issue will be pushed aside and will cease to play such an important role in international, let alone bilateral relations. Let the West and its vassal Kyiv clean up the consequences of the coup, deaths and devastation that millions of Ukrainians and Europeans have to deal with.

India will invest in Russia, and Russia will invest in India

Russia will build six more high-power nuclear units and low-power nuclear power plants in India, Rosatom State Corporation said. In addition, the Russian side shared information with India on solutions in the field of floating nuclear power plants.

India, together with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), plans to invest up to 100 billion rubles in Russian companies that enter the Indian market and implement projects in India.

"Expanding the partnership with Invest India is part of RDIF's strategy to strengthen ties with leading investment institutions, including the BRICS countries,” RDIF General Director Kirill Dmitriev said.

These programs are a strategy, not a matter of opportunism. This cooperation is very beneficial for both sides. The crisis in Ukraine, which is expected to end soon, has been left out of the relationship, and this decision seems to be an absolutely correct one.