PNN – Political analysts, in interpreting the goals and reasons for the visit of the Prime Minister of India to Russia, believe that the visit of “Narendra Modi” indicates the importance of Moscow-Delhi relations and India’s lack of desire to interact with China, especially in border issues.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network from the Associated Press news agency, Modi will have a 2-day trip to Moscow to meet with Russian leaders. This action takes place while he did not participate in the meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in which Chinese President Xi Jinping was present.
In this regard, political analysts believe that these two actions are a sign of unresolved tensions between Delhi and Beijing over border issues, the country’s desire to maintain strong relations with Moscow, and its strategic efforts to balance relations between the two.
Stating that the date of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting conflicted with the first session of the Indian Parliament in his third government, Modi sent Indian External Affairs Minister Subramaniam Jaishenkar to attend the meeting in his place.
In this regard, Harsh Pant, professor of international relations at King’s College London, said: It is likely that Modi did not want to meet with Xi to show that India will not engage with China at the highest level; Unless Beijing’s approach to solving the border issue between the two countries changes.
He added: But at the same time, Modi again wanted to emphasize the importance of strong historical relations between Delhi and Moscow by visiting Moscow and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
This action of Delhi takes place while the Prime Minister of India usually travels to neighboring countries in South Asia after taking office.
After Moscow’s attack on Ukraine, India became one of the major buyers of Russian oil, and Moscow has been one of the suppliers of weapons and heavy military equipment to Delhi for several decades.
According to this report, in recent years, India has increasingly turned to Western allies for the supply of military equipment and has expanded strategic defense ties with them.
On the other hand, Delhi has responded to the efforts of the United States and European countries to introduce Russia as an aggressor country, for example, by abstaining in the United Nations.
Over the past two years, Moscow has also shown its growing dependence on Beijing amid Western efforts to isolate the country, a development that Delhi is wary of.
Analyzing this approach and regarding the dependence of Russia and China, the professor of international relations at King’s College London said: India is worried that Moscow will fall on Beijing’s lap.
Stating that Western allies are concerned about the purchase of Russian oil and military equipment by New Delhi, the analysts added: Westerners are unlikely to be happy with Modi’s visit to Moscow.
Manoj Joshi, a prominent colleague at the Observer Research Foundation, also emphasized that the supply of weapons and military equipment, including the delay in the delivery of missile systems (S-400), will be one of the main points of the talks between the heads of India and Russia.
He added: The problems of monetary and banking transactions of oil sales will be one of the other topics of discussion.
This political analyst pointed out that Modi’s visit to Russia shows that India does not intend to move towards the interests of the West.