Ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s June 21-25 (2023) official state visit to the US, the Kremlin said that Pakistan is a close friend of Russia, as far as economy and security-related issues are concerned. With this statement, Moscow has sent a subtle message to New Delhi.

The diplomatic relations between Russia and the US have worsened since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Hence, the Vladimir Putin Administration is not at all happy with the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to the US. This is why Moscow has issued a statement on its ties with Islamabad, considered as the arch rival of New Delhi in South Asia.

On the 75th anniversary of Russia-Pakistan diplomatic relations, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov issued a video message on June 12, describing the bilateral ties as “advanced and based on trust”. He stated: “Together with our Pakistani partners, we stand for shaping a more just and democratic multipolar world order. We highly appreciate Pakistan’s contribution to the activities of the United Nations and its specialised agencies. We welcome Islamabad’s active involvement in joint work within the SCO, which plays an important role in establishing multilateral cooperation in Greater Eurasia.”

Russia has always used Pakistan to send a diplomatic message to New Delhi whenever India has conveyed a message of rapprochement with the US. However, India has never reacted to this. Instead, New Delhi has avoided such matters. Earlier in 2015, Russia had signed a defence MoU with Pakistan immediately after India signed a number of important logistics exchange agreements with the US. The Modi Administration has repeatedly warned the international community about this. New Delhi has also expressed serious concern over Russia-Pakistan defence cooperation, stressing that Islamabad would use the Russian weapons against India. Ignoring India’s concern, Russia conducted joint military exercises with Pakistan till 2021.

According to some seasoned diplomats, India has practically sided with Russia through balanced diplomacy even after the beginning of Russia-Ukraine War. In return, Russia has started exporting crude oil in large quantities to India at a cheap rate. Russia has also not given a message of closeness to Pakistan for a long time. However, the Kremlin has come to Pakistan’s rescue by sending the first shipment of crude oil to the cash-strapped South Asian nation, a week before Prime Minister Modi’s arrival in Washington DC. The concerned authorities in Pakistan reportedly welcomed the oil-laden ship at the Karachi Port on June 14.

A ‘Peaceful’ Answer!
This time, New Delhi quickly responded to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov’s comments on the ties between Moscow and Islamabad. On June 15, Ajit Doval, the National Security Adviser (NSA) of Prime Minister Modi, dialled Andrii Yermak, the Head of the Office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, to discuss peace.

President Zelenskyy had proposed a 10-point peace formula to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in 2022 in an attempt to end the war. Senior officials of the Zelenskyy Administration called it the Ukraine Peace Formula. President Zelenskyy wants this formula to be discussed at the International Peace Conference to be held in July (2023). The Ukrainian President discussed this particular issue with Indian Prime Minister Modi during their talks on the sidelines of the recently held G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan. The Indian Prime Minister reportedly assured President Zelenskyy that the South Asian nation would do everything possible to find a solution to the Ukraine conflict.

After his telephonic conversations with Doval, Yermak issued a statement, stressing: “We are actively working with partners to prepare the Global Summit on the implementation of the formula. We expect India to take part in it.” According to the statement, Yermak raised the blowing up of the Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River last week during his talks with Doval, calling on India to join the international community in its efforts to eliminate the consequences of this man-made disaster. It added: “This is one of the largest modern crimes of ecocide. The aggressor has caused an unprecedented man-made, environmental and humanitarian disaster.“

It may be noted that Doval and Yermak held talks in February (2023), too. Experts in International Relations have opined that friendly ties between India and Russia are a well-known fact across the globe. Hence, the Western World, including the US, believes that India can stop the Russia-Ukraine War by playing the role of a mediator. However, it is difficult for India to play that role in the current global geopolitical landscape. India would try not to make any move that could deteriorate its relations with Russia. Meanwhile, the telephonic conversations between Doval and Yermak have hinted that the game of diplomatic pressure and counter-pressure between New Delhi and Moscow would go on.

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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