VMuch has been written and spoken about the role India must play in an increasingly Chinese-dominated Asia. As the only country in the region, the second most populous country in the world is believed to be able to fight the giants of the north. The hope that India will engage in containment policies towards China and, to a lesser extent, Russia, is also one of the thinking behind the strategic concept of a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad for short) with the United States Australia, Japan and India. Given the border conflict in the Himalayas, Beijing’s rapid arsenal and the advancement of Chinese warships and submarines deep into the Indian Ocean, India has drawn closer to the United States.
The fact that India still wants to defend its independence in other respects was demonstrated during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi earlier this week. Footage from the summit in the Indian capital shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Putin laughing together. The two interlocutors continued the Indo-Russian tradition of friendship that had existed since the days of the Soviet Union. “In the last two decades, the world has seen a fundamental shift and a shift in the geopolitical balance, but the friendship between India and Russia remains constant,” Modi said. “We see India as a great power,” Putin said. And: “Our military relationship is incomparable.”
