Putin still has friends: India will protect itself when Trump leaves office

The news images that poured in from around the world earlier this week were confusing.

Also served as Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Snuggling for the camera, driving a mini electric car on Putin’s farm, and Russia reportedly bombing a children’s hospital in Kiev.

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Modi has taken a stand on Kyiv’s atrocities, saying “war is not the solution”, but the country has yet to formally condemn Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

It is no coincidence that this meeting is taking place at the same time as NATO leaders are meeting in Washington.

The visit is Modi’s first to Russia in five years. It comes at a time when Putin has few friends.

Newly elected Modi traditionally targets neighboring countries on his first foreign trips to underline the centrality of his foreign policy, so the Moscow trip is a clear indication of where India now wants to turn its attention.

Maximize your own interests

India has been befriending everyone lately because it is doing so to protect its own interests. During the conflict in Ukraine, the country has been buying Russian oil at a discount.

India has also not embraced the peace goals proposed by the G7 countries in Ukraine. But at the same time, it maintains friendly relations with both the United States and the European Union.

Russia’s rapprochement with India’s old enemy China is particularly worrying for Modi amid tensions in the West.

Putin’s recent visit to North Korea also worries Modi because neighboring Pakistan has received long-range missiles from North Korea in exchange for nuclear technology.

While posing, the two also had time to discuss energy cooperation. Russian nuclear expertise is important to India and Putin is happy to sell nuclear technology to India. The two countries signed an agreement to build six new power plants.

For India, friendly relations with Russia are also necessary economically. Much of India’s military equipment still originates from the Soviet Union, and the machines need maintenance. India is also interested in the defense of the Arctic region and new transit routes with Russia.

I’m with Trump

Putin’s relationship is warm Donald Trump’s This situation has persisted during his first term as president, and it is believed that it will continue after Trump is re-elected.

India also wants to tread carefully here because if Trump wins the election, three powerful individuals – Putin, Trump and Modi – will be able to jointly create their own interests and establish power relations globally.

There are also signs that US support for Ukraine may wane if Trump wins the election. Europe does not seem ready to shoulder that burden alone. There is speculation that Modi wants New Delhi to play a role in bringing the two countries to the negotiating table.

The “brotherhood” between the two strong leaders reveals the attitudes of the two countries towards the world situation.

India wants to decide its own foreign policy without pressure from the West.

On the other hand, Putin’s flattery is understandable, as the meeting gives him another opportunity to show that Russia is not an isolated country but is able to maintain relations with geopolitically important countries despite tensions.