Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi canceled a face-to-face meeting with President Vladimir Putin, which was to take place in December.
Bloomberg reported quoting officials familiar with the situation. The decision of the Indian Prime Minister is connected with the war in Ukraine, particularly with Russian threats to use nuclear weapons, the agency writes.
Bloomberg notes that the Russia-India summit has been held annually since the early 2000s and was canceled only once during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. However, in December 2021, Putin visited India to meet with Modi, his first trip outside the post-Soviet space after the start of the pandemic.
Bloomberg sources indicate that the summit’s cancellation does not mean a deterioration in relations between New Delhi and Moscow. Still, Modi believes that a meeting with Putin now will not benefit him.
The cancellation of the meeting became apparent back in September. Then at the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Uzbekistan, Modi told Putin that the current era is “not the era of war,” directly urging him to seek peace with Ukraine.
Officials from both countries have not yet commented on the reports.
Economic component
The cancellation of Modi’s meeting with Putin is Ukraine’s most important political news. Russia was counting on India as both a market for sales and purchases. In particular, India is a major car manufacturer, and even before the war, it was ten times bigger than Russia in this sense.
Russia does not produce any cars because it cannot get spare parts anywhere. Before the summit’s cancellation, there was a report that India would supply Russia with spare parts for cars and something else high-tech. Therefore, there was an economic calculation on India.
Political component
The political component of the cancellation of Modi’s meeting with Putin is that Russia announced a turn to the East, and now the East refuses to deal with Moscow. In particular, local businessmen were told that “we do not trade with Europe and the United States now, but we will trade with Eastern countries.” However, the refusal is also a blow and shock for the same business people.
Therefore, Modi’s act is support for Ukraine, even more than any vote in the UN. In addition, analysts who said that the words of Xi and Modi at the SCO summit closed the topic of Putin using nuclear weapons were right. So, the Indian Prime Minister spoke about it then, and now it has been confirmed.
As Putin continues the merciless and mad war against Ukraine, Moscow becomes more and more isolated. Even the countries that were ready to have business with Russia a couple of months ago now halt cooperation, asking the Russian regime to stop the war of aggression.
