PM Modi will go to Russia tomorrow, President Putin is waiting impatiently

India adopted its independent strategy regarding Russia
Moscow. PM Narendra Modi is going to Russia on a two-day visit from tomorrow. This is the first bilateral visit after PM Modi took power for the third time, where he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. This will be PM Modi’s first visit since Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Both countries have been holding annual summits since 2000, but it was postponed after the Ukraine war. In such a situation, the question arises that why has PM Modi started it now and what is the reason for choosing Moscow for the first bilateral visit in the third term? When many countries of the world are keeping distance from Putin, PM Modi’s visit to Moscow means a lot to Putin.

The friendship between India and Russia is decades old. Putin and PM Modi last met at the SCO summit in September 2022. During that time, Modi’s statement was discussed in the world, in which he said that today’s era is not an era of war. Since then the two leaders have not met. Apart from Chinese President Xi Jinping, very few country leaders have visited Russia in the last two years. Not only this, Putin himself has reduced his foreign visits due to the threat of an arrest warrant to be issued by the International Criminal Court in March 2023. This was speculated to be the reason behind the Russian President staying away from the BRICS summit held in South Africa. India understands the concerns of Western countries regarding Ukraine and perhaps this is the reason why it has maintained distance in relations with Russia for the last two years, but the Ukraine war does not seem to end in the near future, in such a situation, India has now decided to move forward.

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In the last two years, India has adopted an independent strategy towards Russia, not succumbing to Western pressure. It chose to buy oil from Russia at a discounted rate, which also helped stabilize global oil prices and supply. Despite the pressure of US sanctions, India also decided to go ahead with the purchase of a state-of-the-art missile defense system from Russia.