A thin line

A thin line

India is indulging both Russia and Ukraine but spelling out a clear policy will be good.

Is there an invisible undercurrent that runs through India’s policy — or strategy — on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or are we getting the messaging wrong? The world sees India abstaining from a UN Security Council vote not once but twice. First, it was the American-sponsored resolution condemning Russia; then, the procedural vote for an emergency session of the UN General Assembly. Be clarified that a Security Council vote is binding, the General Assembly’s is not. India has a historical and deep relationship with Russia, which is its largest arms supplier. A host of defence agreements and projects are in various stages of consideration and progress right now. By abstaining from the Security Council vote, India may have achieved a double: It sits in with its stated policy that dialogue is the only way to resolve differences. It can be interpreted as reflecting the partnership with Russia. In any case, India’s abstention was never going to affect the vote. To that extent, the foreign office mandarins can be content thinking that they have come up tops both ways. But that is not foreign policy; it is at best a strategy to keep both sides happy without committing yourself. After the vote, however, New Delhi has thrown enough hints to show that while abstaining, it is also wholeheartedly with the rest of the world in actively sympathising with the cause of Ukraine. The Americans are doing it by imposing sanctions. Some European countries are doing it by arming Ukraine.

India is sending critical aid, especially medical, to Ukraine. It is also more forthright on the matter of invasion, post-vote. It is on record stating that the situation in Ukraine “has worsened”, describing it as a “humanitarian crisis”. India stresses the “importance of respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations”. This is the closest New Delhi has come to question Russia’s actions in Ukraine. India also regrets that the “path of diplomacy was given up”. That is as much an observation about Russia as it is about other countries which were in touch with President Vladimir Putin to make him give up plans to invade Ukraine. These gradual escalations in pronouncements are followed by action in terms of the supply of critical aid to Ukraine. On the domestic front, New Delhi’s strategy is playing out in the form of an all-out effort to evacuate the 20,000-odd Indians, mostly students, stuck in Ukraine. The task gets difficult for a few thousand Indian students in eastern Ukraine, in cities like Kharkiv, Kyiv and Sumy, which are close to Russian air bases and witnessing intense fighting. An Indian student has already wondered aloud why, if Russia is India’s friend, can New Delhi not ask Moscow to help evacuate the students instead of making them travel over 1,000 km to safe border points in western Ukraine. The naïve thought notwithstanding, it surely calls for a policy from India, not just a strategy.