{"id":91048,"date":"2024-07-09T12:21:08","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T12:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/09\/modis-moscow-visit-showcases-a-less-isolated-putin-angering-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2024-07-09T12:21:08","modified_gmt":"2024-07-09T12:21:08","slug":"modis-moscow-visit-showcases-a-less-isolated-putin-angering-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/09\/modis-moscow-visit-showcases-a-less-isolated-putin-angering-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi\u2019s Moscow Visit Showcases a Less Isolated Putin, Angering Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1050\" height=\"549\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/08\/08\/multimedia\/08russia-modi-01-pkcl\/08russia-modi-01-pkcl-facebookJumbo.jpg?resize=1050,549&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Modi\u2019s Moscow Visit Showcases a Less Isolated Putin, Angering Ukraine\" title=\"Modi\u2019s Moscow Visit Showcases a Less Isolated Putin, Angering Ukraine\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India strolled alongside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia under the trees at the Russian leader\u2019s suburban residence as the sun set. He rode a golf cart along the paths, sipped tea during an hourslong chat and petted a horse on a visit to Mr. Putin\u2019s stables, breathing in the calm of an estate that once belonged to the Romanov dynasty.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The scene, on Monday evening, opened the Indian leader\u2019s two-day trip to Russia and illustrated a sobering reality: Despite the West\u2019s intended isolation of Russia over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2023\/02\/23\/world\/russia-ukraine-geopolitics.html\" title=\"\">other nations have pursued their own interests with regard to Moscow<\/a>, helping Mr. Putin shore up Russia\u2019s economy and wage its war.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While Mr. Modi was hugging the Russian leader, rescue workers in Kyiv were searching for survivors under the rubble of Ukraine\u2019s <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/08\/world\/europe\/russia-ukraine-missile-strikes-childrens-hospital.html\" title=\"\">largest pediatric hospital in the wake of a Russian missile attack<\/a>. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine called Mr. Modi\u2019s embrace a \u201chuge disappointment\u201d and a \u201cdevastating blow to peace efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The arrival in Russia of the leader of the world\u2019s largest democracy has given Mr. Putin further evidence that he has avoided the pariah status Western leaders tried to force on him after the invasion. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/05\/17\/world\/asia\/putin-xi-china-russia.html\" title=\"\">Mr. Putin has held two meetings with China\u2019s leader, Xi Jinping<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/03\/21\/world\/europe\/xi-putin-russia.html\" title=\"\">in two months<\/a>, along with meeting the leaders of <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/06\/19\/world\/asia\/putin-russia-vietnam-visit.html\" title=\"\">Vietnam<\/a>, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/07\/world\/asia\/orban-hungary-china-xi.html\" title=\"\">Hungary<\/a>, Belarus and the nations of Central Asia, keeping a robust diplomatic schedule.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Modi\u2019s trip to Russia, his first in five years, also coincided with the start of the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/09\/us\/politics\/nato-summit-biden.html\" title=\"\">annual summit of NATO heads of state<\/a>, taking place this year in Washington.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Western officials \u2014 who immediately condemned the attack on the Ukrainian pediatric hospital, which Moscow denied being responsible for \u2014 have failed to persuade India to take a public position against Mr. Putin\u2019s war. Despite deepening ties with the United States, Mr. Modi has avoided condemning Russia\u2019s invasion and called for \u201ccollective dialogue,\u201d choosing instead to maintain warm relations with Moscow that India has cultivated since the Cold War.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe have had two and a half years now of endless Russian atrocities, and most of the world is not daunted or uncomfortable maintaining some kind of business as usual with Moscow,\u201d said Andrew S. Weiss, the vice president for studies at the Washington-based Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. \u201cThat\u2019s a really sad commentary on Russia\u2019s continued geopolitical weight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">A video clip of Mr. Putin sharing a warm embrace with Mr. Modi circulated widely on Indian news channels and social media. Mr. Putin referred to Mr. Modi as his \u201cbest friend\u201d during their informal sit-down on Monday, which India\u2019s leader essentially described as a gossip session, or chitchat, between friends. The Kremlin said it had lasted three hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHearing the word Russia, the first word that comes to the mind of every Indian is India\u2019s companion in happiness and sorrow,\u201d Mr. Modi said in a meeting with the Indian community in Moscow, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. \u201cRussia is India\u2019s true friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Modi\u2019s warm words for Mr. Putin were noted in Kyiv, where Ukrainians reeled from Monday\u2019s devastating attack on the pediatric hospital. Images of children outside the destroyed medical facility with their IVs still attached, or in some cases covered in blood, wrenched a nation that has been exhausted by more than two years of Russian bombardment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIt is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world\u2019s largest democracy hug the world\u2019s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day,\u201d Mr. Zelensky of Ukraine <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZelenskyyUa\/status\/1810437647581716707\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">New Delhi\u2019s stance toward Moscow has been beneficial for both India and Russia. While India imported little Russian crude before the invasion of Ukraine, the nation has since risen to become <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.iea.org\/data-and-statistics\/charts\/average-russian-oil-exports-by-country-and-region-2021-2023\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">the No. 2 importer of Russian oil after China<\/a>, helping fill the Kremlin\u2019s coffers despite a Western ban on most Russian oil imports. In many cases, India has been refining Russian crude and re-exporting it to European nations that are subject to the ban \u2014 giving <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2023\/06\/22\/business\/india-russia-oil.html\" title=\"\">the South Asian nation a lucrative middleman role<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The United States, which has been seeking to deepen ties with India amid growing tension with China, has not forced New Delhi to choose between Washington and Moscow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In response to questions about Mr. Modi\u2019s visit, Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, told a Monday press briefing that he was not aware of any specific conversations between American and Indian officials about Mr. Modi\u2019s trip to Russia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Miller said the United States has \u201cmade quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia\u201d and that he would \u201clook to Prime Minister Modi\u2019s public remarks to see what he talked about\u201d with Mr. Putin on the visit. He added that Washington would hope that any country engaging with Moscow would make clear that Russia should respect the United Nations Charter, as well as Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and borders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There was no indication that Mr. Modi planned to deliver such a message to Mr. Putin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">India has a long history of friendly relations with Moscow, dating back to the days of the Cold War. The Soviet Union and later Russia for decades supplied much of India\u2019s arms and military equipment, though that reliance has decreased in recent years \u2014 in part due to pressure from the United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis has been a time-tested relationship, and there is a consensus in India, regardless of political orientation, that the relationship with Russia is one to be preserved and not squandered,\u201d said Rajan Menon, an international affairs expert and professor emeritus of political science at City College.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Putin has cast his invasion of Ukraine as an anti-imperial struggle against an encroaching West, and that messaging has resonated in parts of the developing world that once faced Western colonialism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Unlike in the West, where views of Russia are largely negative, many Indians have a positive opinion of the country, according to a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/global\/2024\/07\/02\/views-of-russia-and-putin-july-24\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Pew Research Center poll<\/a> conducted this year. In the poll, just 16 percent of respondents in Indian expressed unfavorable views of Russia, compared with 46 percent who said they had a positive association with the country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Menon predicted that India would continue to cultivate deeper ties with the United States over the long term, but not at a cost of having to choose sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAnyone who expects you can peel India off and put it in the U.S. column, that is not going to happen,\u201d he said. \u201cWould you rather be completely dependent on the United States or Russia, or have a position of maneuverability between the two?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Back home in India, representatives of Mr. Modi\u2019s Bharatiya Janata Party were trading barbs with leaders of the Indian National Congress, its main opponent in Parliament. Jairam Ramesh, a top Congress official, denounced Mr. Modi\u2019s decision to embark on the two-day visit to Russia instead of visiting relief camps in the northeastern state of Assam, where floods have taken a heavy toll and where Rahul Gandhi, the opposition leader, was visiting the victims. But the Kremlin\u2019s war against Ukraine did not come up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/07\/09\/world\/europe\/russia-india-modi-moscow-putin.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India strolled alongside President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia under the trees at the Russian leader\u2019s suburban residence as the sun set. He rode a golf cart along the paths, sipped tea during an hourslong chat and petted a horse on a visit to Mr. Putin\u2019s stables, breathing in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":91049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2024\/08\/08\/multimedia\/08russia-modi-01-pkcl\/08russia-modi-01-pkcl-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[25825,46170,3135,3098,209,8535,1130,1690],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91048"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91048"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91048\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91050,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91048\/revisions\/91050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}