Bloomberg: Putin’s India trip signals Western isolation campaign’s collapse

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning his first visit to India since the start of the Ukraine conflict, signalling the failure of US-led efforts to isolate him on the global stage.

While the exact dates for the trip to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi are still being finalized, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed optimism in a video interview with Indian media on November 19, which was later confirmed by Bloomberg, per Caliber.Az.

“We are looking forward to it,” a presidential aide noted.

“After two visits of Prime Minister Modi to Russia, now we have a visit of President Putin to India,” Peskov continued. “We attach a very great importance to these contacts.”

Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, India and Russia held regular annual summits between their leaders. However, New Delhi chose not to attend the in-person summit in December 2022, after Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in the war, according to sources familiar with the matter at the time.

Putin and Modi held talks in October when Russia hosted the BRICS summit, and Modi visited Moscow in July for his first trip to Russia since the war began. It was also his first bilateral visit after securing a third term in India's elections. During those talks, Modi embraced Putin, calling him his “friend,” despite the backdrop of a deadly Russian missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kyiv that had sparked international condemnation.

Modi’s willingness to engage with Putin has raised concerns in Washington, which has aimed to isolate the Russian leader over the war. However, the US also recognizes India’s strategic importance in countering China’s influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

Moscow and New Delhi have long maintained close ties, dating back to the Cold War. India remains a major customer of Russian military hardware and has become a top buyer of Russian oil, especially as the US and its G7 allies sought to limit Russian energy sales in response to the war.

Should Putin travel to India, it would mark a sign of his growing confidence to travel abroad, despite an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March 2023 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. India, not being a member of the ICC, is not obligated to enforce the warrant. Nevertheless, Putin chose not to attend the 2023 G-20 summit in India.

Earlier this year, Putin visited Mongolia, a member state of the ICC, drawing international criticism for not honouring the warrant. South Africa, another ICC signatory, had requested that Putin refrain from attending the 2023 BRICS summit due to the arrest warrant.

Putin also opted out of attending the G-20 summit in Brazil in September, another ICC member state, explaining that his presence would have become a distraction due to the warrant.

By Tamilla Hasanova