PM Modi's historic Ukraine visit signals new foreign policy approach

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine, last week, comes at an interesting churn of events on the geopolitical landscape. The visit, a first, by any Indian PM since Ukraine was first carved out as an independent sovereign nation, had many layers of interpretations regarding India’s new foreign policy approach. The timing was significant as this trip came barely six weeks after PM Modi’s state visit to Moscow. The Russia trip was widely criticised by India’s strategic ally US, primarily due to the timing.

Even as PM Modi was in Moscow, the NATO leaders were huddled together in Washington, discussing military aid for Ukraine.Meanwhile, Russia bombed a children’s hospital in Ukraine leading to the loss of lives for civilians and children. President Zelenskyy had condemned India's PM’s first visit to Russia during his third term and the US State Department had also issued stern statements regarding the trip. Indian PM had also avoided participating in the Peace Summit organised in June, to find a political solution to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. The recent visit by PM Modi to Ukraine, even as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was in Washington DC was a statement regarding India’s fine balance diplomacy in times of war. President Biden, called up the Indian PM soon after his visit to Ukraine to apprise him of the prevailing situation.

The readout released from the White House read “President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. spoke today with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India to discuss the Prime Minister’s recent trip to Poland and Ukraine, as well as the United Nations General Assembly meetings in September.  The President commended the Prime Minister for his historic visits to Poland and Ukraine, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in decades, and for his message of peace and ongoing humanitarian support for Ukraine, including its energy sector.  The Leaders affirmed their continued support for a peaceful resolution of the conflict by international law, on the basis of the UN Charter.” Interestingly, the Indian PM also spoke to President Biden regarding the ongoing crisis in Bangladesh and expressed concern regarding the safety of minorities, especially Hindus, which was highlighted in the Indian statement after the telephone conversation.

The Bangladesh situation omission from the White House readout did create some murmurs across Delhi corridors.India is now making efforts to have its own Europe policy, which is not curated with a Russia factor in mind. For several decades post-independence, the Cold War era, the block approach mostly guided India’s foreign policy, especially where Russia was involved. Russia has been a long-standing ally of India and is also one of the biggest exporters of defence equipment.

While maintaining silence on sensitive Russia-related topics has been India’s long-standing approach, things began to change in the past few years. There is a growing sense of having an independent need-based foreign policy, amongst the top policymakers. PM Modi initiated the concept of “not a time for war” at multilateral platforms such as G20, which started finding global resonance when vocalising concerns regarding Ukraine and Russia. He upped the narrative with his clear message to Russia during his Moscow visit that permanent solutions could not be found on the battlefield. The joint statement issued post PM Modi’s meeting with President Zelenskyy read “

The Indian side reiterated its principled position and focus on peaceful resolution through dialogue and diplomacy. Prime Minister Modi reiterated the need for sincere and practical engagement between all stakeholders to develop innovative solutions that will have broad acceptability and contribute towards early restoration of peace.” The message to global leaders, particularly the US and Russia that the recent PM Modi visit highlighted was that India is willing to engage with any nation, even if they may be in opposite camps, to find the best possible outcomes for itself.

(The writer is a policy analyst; views are personal)