India back to its balancing act as Modi calls Putin, briefs him about his visit to US

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin about his recent tour to Washington DC – a visit that saw the United States easing restrictions to share advanced military and civilian technologies with India, apparently to help it lessen its dependence on the former Soviet Union nation.

Modi called Putin a week after he was hosted by US President Joe Biden at the White House. The Prime Minister and the president of the Russian Federation reviewed progress in bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, according to a press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. They agreed to “continue to make efforts to further strengthen Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership” between India and Russia.

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Modi informed Putin “on his international contacts, including ones during his recent visit to Washington DC”, the Kremlin, the office of the president of the Russian Federation, said in a statement issued in Moscow. The press release issued by New Delhi, however, had no mention of any discussion between the two leaders about the Prime Minister’s state visit to Washington DC and his meetings with the US president.

Putin and Modi discussed the recent aborted rebellion by the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organisation, led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, against the Russian Army. The Prime Minister of India “expressed understanding and support” for the “decisive actions” of the leadership of Russia “to protect law and order, ensure stability in the country and the security of its citizens”.

The phone-call signalled that New Delhi would continue to maintain the strategic balance in its ties with Moscow and Washington DC, although the Modi-Biden meetings last week opened up opportunities for expanding cooperation between India and the US not only in defence and space sectors but also in critical and emerging technologies, like Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing.

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The Modi-Biden meeting also saw General Atomics of the United States agreeing to not only assemble in India the armed drones New Delhi would procure from it but also to set up in the country a global maintenance, repair and overhaul facility. GE Aerospace headquartered in Cincinnati inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited based out of Bengaluru for transfer of technology and joint production of F414 fighter jet engines in India for the Indian Air Force.

New Delhi has been over the past few months repeatedly pointing out that India had to rely more on Russia only because the US and the other western nations had declined to share with it advanced military hardware and technologies. The Modi Government has been putting forward the argument in response to criticism over its refusal to join the US and the rest of the West in criticising Russia for its military aggression against Ukraine – apparently due to India’s decades-old dependence on the erstwhile Soviet Union and its successor state for advanced civilian and military technologies.

Modi and Putin on Friday also discussed Russia’s war in Ukraine. Putin gave Modi an update about the “current state of affairs” in the areas in Ukraine where Russia was conducting its “special military operations”. He stressed Kyiv’s utter refusal to undertake political and diplomatic steps to resolve the conflict, according to the press release issued in Moscow. The Prime Minister reiterated his call for dialogue and diplomacy to end the conflict.

During his visit to Washington DC last week, Modi stuck to New Delhi’s policy of not condemning Moscow for its aggression against Ukraine, but joined Biden to subtly send a message to Russia by calling for respect for international law, principles of the United Nations Charter and territorial integrity and sovereignty of all nations. The Prime Minister also reiterated his “this-is-not-an-era-of-war” refrain while addressing the US Senators and Representatives in Capitol Hill.