India has repeatedly advised both Russia and Ukraine to resolve all the outstanding bilateral issues through peaceful negotiation in the last couple of years. During his recent meeting with Indian Minister of External Affair Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin referred to the diplomatic position of New Delhi, saying that his friend Narendra Modi's help was required to reach a peaceful solution.
The visiting Indian minister met the Russian President at the Kremlin on December 27, 2023 to discuss a number of important issues, including the Ukraine War. President Putin reportedly invited the Indian PM to visit Russia through Dr Jaishankar. He assured the Indian External Affairs Minister that his administration would cooperate with Prime Minister Modi by providing additional information about the war in order to reach a peaceful solution. Dr Jaishankar told the Russian President that Prime Minister Modi was eager to resolve the crisis.
During his five-day trip to Moscow, Dr Jaishankar held a separate meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Viktorovich Lavrov. Later, they informed the press that Prime Minister Modi and President Putin would meet face-to-face at the summit meeting of the two countries in early 2024.
In December 2023, the Executive Intelligence Review (EIR) reported that the meeting of two Foreign Ministers stressed on various issues, including Indian investment in the Russian Far East and North; increasing the volume of bilateral trade by using national currencies; and connectivity initiatives. The EIR quoted RT as mentioning that connectivity initiatives would focus mainly on further extensions of the International North-South Transport Corridor. It may be noted that President Putin stated on December 15 (2023): "Cargo shipping by rail from Murmansk to Mumbai will take around 15 days. Transit schedules will be reduced by four times compared to the current routes." The Russian President issued this statement while commenting on extension of the railway services to Murmansk that would link major Indian transport hubs to a key Russian seaport in the Arctic.
The RT further reported that Indian capital investments in Russia - a new phenomenon - reached USD 14 billion, while Russia's investments in India touched USD 16 billion in recent times. The volume of bilateral trade was equivalent to USD 50 billion in 2023. Moscow, at this point, has a surplus equivalent to USD 40 billion in vostro accounts of Russian exporters' banks and also in Indian banks. As the vostro accounts hold Indian Rupees now, Russian exporters can, in effect, invest their windfall of Indian fossil fuel payments in new Russian connectivity and power infrastructure projects, by letting these accounts lend to Indian infrastructure and engineering companies, or to Indian investors in the Russian projects. However, it requires the Russian Government to agree.
Incidentally, India has been continuously importing crude oil from Russia despite the Ukraine War, ignoring the economic sanctions on Moscow imposed by the US and its Western partners. Although the Annual India-Russia Summit has been suspended since 2021 because of the war, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs has claimed that Moscow's ties with New Delhi have been strengthened in spite of the West's attempt to isolate Russia. Now, India is trying to convey the message to the West that the Modi Administration would insist on dialogue and diplomacy in order to end the bloodbath in Europe. However, India would never compromise with its own energy, defence and security interests.
With inputs from EIR.
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