INDIA’s Diplomatic Balancing Act – Friend to Both Russia And the US

India has come a long way in its diplomatic standing on world stage. India's ability to maintain its long-standing and strategic partnership with Russia while balancing its growing relationship with the United States is a proof of its growing economic importance. Being the world’s largest democracy, India is in a unique position in the international diplomatic relations. Post World War II, the US and Soviet Union emerged as the world's two superpowers with other countries linking with one of the two groups. But India followed the policy of non-alignment since independence. One of the most important factors for it could be India’s own experience with colonialism for so many years. India has never aligned militarily with any group of countries. By balancing its diplomatic relations with two opposing global powers, India has surprised the world.

India’s Historical Relation with Russia

India has historically been closer to Russia. These two countries have strong relation since India gained independence and post-World War II. Russia has been a reliable and the biggest supplier of military equipment to India. During India-Pakistan war of 1971, Russia supported India. In addition to the defence equipment, Russia is also
India’s biggest energy supplier. In recent years there has been a decline in defence imports from Russia as India began importing from US, France and Israel. Yet, it has not put any pressure on it’s relation with Russia. During Russia-Ukraine war, when sanctions were imposed on Russia, India continued to import oil from Russia without coming under any international pressure. Moreover, India has always abstained from voting on any resolution against Russia on Ukraine war in the United Nations. At the same time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has conveyed to Russian President Vladimir Putin many times to look for peaceful solutions and refrain from war. During his recent visit to Russia, PM Modi told Putin that, "India has always called for respecting the UN Charter, including territorial integrity and sovereignty. There is no solution on the battlefield. Dialogue and diplomacy is the way forward." During an earlier meeting also between the two leaders at the September 2022 summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Modi told Putin to take the path towards peace while the Chinese Premier Xi Jinping who also attended the summit, did not approve Putin’s war, but neither did he openly criticize it. This shows that while India still values and holds Russia as a very important diplomatic partner but at the same time India is also emerging as a valuable partner in this relationship.

The Growing India-US Relation

Unlike Russia, India’s relation with the US started strengthening only since late 90s or early 2000s. India’s non-alignment policy during cold war was not appreciated by the US. The US’s support to Pakistan in the past, especially during Nixon regime also affected its relation with India negatively. When Indian economy opened up in 1990s, the economic relation between the two countries started to grow. Besides the economic factors, the threat from growing power of China was also one of the reasons of developing relation between world’s two largest democracies. The US is one of India’s largest trading partners and is also gradually becoming an important defence supplier to India. American company, General Electric is providing engines for India’s indigenous fighter plan Tejas. Moreover, the presence of a large number of Indians in the US has also helped in strengthening of relation between the two countries. As mentioned above, India has abstained from voting against Russia in the UN still it enjoys warm relation with the US. Infact, speaking about PM Modi’s recent visit to Moscow, Pentagon press secretary Major General Pat Ryder at a news conference said that "India and Russia have had a relationship for a very long time. From a US perspective, India is a strategic partner with whom we continue to engage in full and frank dialogue to include their relationship with Russia”. This shows growth in India’s significance in world economy and world politics.

CONCLUSION – The Balancing Act

India is the only country which shares close ties with both Russia and the US. India is a part of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) and QUAD (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue - a group of four countries: the US, Australia, Japan, and India) at the same time. India continues to get its defence supplies from both Russia and the US and maintains strong economic relation. It refuses to align with any axis and remains neutral in case of geo-political situation. India has shown to the world that it is making its own foreign policy decisions irrespective of whether Russia or the US approve or not. India’s foreign policy and economic growth is helping it to balance its relation without compromising its national interest. Among his many smart replies, the following two responses by India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar sums up India’s current foreign policy.

“I don’t accept that India has to join either the U.S. axis or China axis. We are one-fifth of the world’s population, fifth or sixth-largest economy in the world…we are entitled to weigh our own side.”

-          Replying to a question in GLOBESEC 2022 at Bratislava

"Is that a problem, why should that be a problem? if I am smart enough to have multiple options, you should be admiring me. Is that a problem for others? I don't think so, suddenly in this case. We try to explain what are the different pulls and pressures that countries have. it's very hard to have that unidimensional relationship."

-          Replying to a query on the sidelines of the Munich security conference (Feb 2024) on how New Delhi was balancing its growing bilateral ties with Washington while continuing to trade with Moscow