The US and Russia, the two belligerent Super Powers, have showered praises on India for different reasons. The Kremlin strongly criticised the West for destabilising the world after the recent meeting of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in New Delhi. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry has appreciated constructive roles of India’s G20 Presidency, especially in a turbulent period. Issuing a statement, the Russian Ministry has said that India is chairing G20 well enough, keeping in mind the positions and political interests of all the countries. Russia has also sent a message to keep India in the same bracket with the former by raising the issue of BRICS (an acronym for five leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed: “A significant contribution was made to these efforts by our country, BRICS partners and developing countries. We note the constructive role of the Indian Presidency, which strove for a fair consideration of interests and positions of all countries. The balanced approaches formulated in this context create a good foundation for responding to modern challenges in the area of global finance and related sectors, including support for economic growth and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.“

The Ministry blasted the West for its failure to issue a joint communique, insisting: “Our opponents, primarily the US, the EU and the G7, continue their paranoid attempts to isolate Russia and shift the blame for the provoked problems in the area of international security and the global economy onto it.“

Meanwhile, Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, recently said that India and China might have helped persuade Russia to avoid using nuclear weapons against Ukraine. He made the comment on the first anniversary of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War (marked on February 24, 2023). Before his arrival in India to take part in a G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in the first week of March, Blinken told the local media in Washington DC: “… other countries that might have a little bit more influence with Russia these days, like China, but also other countries, like India, to engage him (Russian President Vladimir Putin) directly about their absolute opposition to any use of nuclear weapons. And we know that they conveyed those messages. And I think that had some effect.“

A section of Foreign Policy experts believes that the statement, issued by the US Secretary of State, is significant, as Blinken has virtually acknowledged the dependence of the West on the two Asian nations in order to restore peace by mentioning the influence of New Delhi and Beijing over Moscow.

Incidentally, President Putin freezed the New Start Treaty with the US on strategic nuclear disarmament in the third week of February 2023. Thereafter, Washington DC accused Moscow of fuelling a new nuclear arms race. Immediately after the Russian strongman made the announcement in this regard, Blinken stressed: “The announcement by Russia that it’s suspending participation in the New Start Treaty is deeply unfortunate and irresponsible. We will be watching carefully to see what Russia actually does. We will of course make sure that in any event we are postured appropriately for the security of our own country and that of our allies.”

Experts are of the opinion that the recent developments have made it clear that both Russia and the US want India, as the current President of G20, to defuse tension over the Ukraine issue. Now, it is up to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stamp his authority on Global Geopolitics by utilising this opportunity.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das