Today, Russia-Europe ties have collapsed. The Russia-US relationship remains uncertain. The Ukraine conflict continues. Russia remains under sanctions.
President Trump keeps changing his positions. He has disrupted the global trading system. His policy toward China is unclear. Trump has caused a serious setback to relations with India. He has now imposed oil sanctions, sanctioning oil companies in Russia, which will affect our oil trade with Russia. So, if you look around, the whole global situation is very uncertain.
Russia is under pressure. India has also faced some new pressures from the United States and Europe. In this situation, the only stable relationship that exists is between India and Russia, despite Russia being under pressure. Which is why, irrespective of the concrete results from the visit, which will take time to materialise, this relationship (between India, Russia) remains inherently and intrinsically important and needs to be preserved and cultivated. Therefore, President Putin's visit was very important to give a new dynamism to the ties and resume summit-level discussions.
We have, therefore, gone out of the way to give even greater visibility to the visit by declaring it a state visit and giving all honours to President Putin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the first time, is going to the airport to receive President Putin, showing the importance that he accorded to the visit.
There will be no defence deals announced because Russia itself is currently under stress because of the conflict in Ukraine. The supply of S-400s -- the two units are still missing. They still have not come. And, with regard to the Su-57s and all those things, these are very important decisions that India has to make.
You have to see whether you are going to rely on indigenous capability rather than ordering a new line of aircraft from another country. This is a decision that has serious implications for the future, and, therefore, in due course, we will see.
So far as oil is concerned, it is inevitable that our offtake of oil supplies will get reduced because of US sanctions. It is inevitable because our companies will not take the risk of exposing themselves to secondary US sanctions, which will hurt their larger business and access to the global financial system. But there are other avenues for energy cooperation because we want to invest in Russia's energy sector. We have already done that. We are willing to do more. Then there is the whole issue of the development of Russia's Far East, which has tremendous potential. Because there is a lot of raw material -- we can go and develop them and bring them back.
These are things that can be done in the right spirit but will take time. And this visit was an investment in the right spirit and recognition that there is a lot of potential, and we must build on the potential.
To sum up, therefore, the decision by India to accord such high-level importance to President Putin’s visit is indeed an exercise in strategic autonomy by India. And this is despite the fact that we are under sanctions by the United States -- half of which is because of Russia. As far as our neighbourhood is concerned, especially in the context of China, I think there is a clear message for China that Russia is treating its relationship with China and with India separately. And one is not at the cost of the other.
On the larger question, on PM Modi’s foreign policy approach, I would say that it is continuity with seeking to break new ground in areas in which our cooperation has already proved very fruitful.
(As told to Suman K Jha) |
