A point in time with a symbolic character Narendra Modi has chosen to be his old friend Vladimir Putin to visit again: India's head of government flew to Russia on Monday to intensify recently cooled ties with the Kremlin.
Putin received them at his residence in Novo Ogaryevo near Moscow for tea and the president also showed his guests the horse stables – one day before the start of the event NATO Summitwhere a new package to support Kiev will be drawn up.
Official talks are scheduled for Tuesday. The two-day trip is not only Modi’s first state visit since his re-election a few weeks ago, which was marred by a bitter defeat. It is also his first bilateral meeting with Putin since the war of aggression against Ukraine.
Brushing the belly
So far, what is known from the visit is that they rub each other's bellies. So IPutin criticized Modi's political commitment. “You have dedicated your whole life to the Indian people, people feel it,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russia's state news agency Tass. “You are right, my goal is only one – my people and my country,” he replied. Modi, who once again described Putin as a “friend”.
Many observers see the fact that Modi accepted Putin's invitation to Moscow as an attempt to demonstrate. India wants to once again assert its sacred independence. More and more Western countries are trying to intensify their ties with New Delhi.
Many friends, few enemies
While Modi's foreign policy includes alliances, especially for economic gain, it is generally non-partisan. It has not joined Western sanctions on Russia or condemned the attack on Ukraine.
Instead, Modi has used geopolitics to his advantage as usual and gotten oil from Russia, which was cheap because of the Western embargo. About 40 percent of India’s imports now come from Russia – and this may please Putin’s high war spending. Although India gets more of its military equipment from France and the United States, it still imports a significant amount of it from Russia.
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