Four ways the Russo-Ukrainian war changed India’s global image
Published Date – Sat 4/22/23 12:30pm
Four ways the Russo-Ukrainian war changed India’s global image
By Abhishek Kadiyala, Dr. Karamala Areesh Kumar
Hyderabad: Since the conflict broke out in early 2022, India’s policy towards the Russo-Ukrainian war has only changed in scope, not in direction. Undeterred by Western criticism or external pressure, India has taken a unique stance on this issue, changing and strengthening its international image as a multipolar, sovereign, new-age global power.
India has been a loyal partner of Russia by maintaining trade and diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation and refusing to recognize the conflict as a “war”. However, India has repeatedly spoken out against violence and civilian deaths during the conflict, calling for peace.
Just over a year ago, on February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine, advancing across three fronts within a week and threatening Kiev. The world has been shocked by the scale of violence and destruction as the Russian army advances, forcing countries to take a stand and take a stand on the issue.
Non-Aligned for a New Era
The United States, NATO and their East Asian allies openly support and help Ukraine resist Russia’s aggression, and oppose Russia’s actions in international organizations.They openly criticize the Putin regime
And imposed large-scale sanctions on Russia. Instead, countries like China are supporting Russia diplomatically, if not overtly, through alternative models of economic support, becoming its largest post-sanctions trading partner, questionable military aid, and most importantly, through support from international organizations .
However, one player who has remained tactically unaligned in this conflict is India. By remaining loyal to its Russian partner on trade and rhetoric, while calling for peace and opposing violence, India has brought back the age-old philosophy of non-alignment to its foreign policy after nearly five years.
Non-alignment is by no means a lack of opinion or neutrality, but an acknowledgment of the pros and cons of each side and an active search for conflict resolution. Since the 1971 Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty, this strategy has been shelved and remains at the theoretical level. But now it has emerged as a powerful tool aimed at boosting India’s new national image while shielding it from Western demands and criticism.
economic sovereignty
From the socialist-leaning mixed economic policies of the Cold War to the IMF-directed reforms of the 1990s, India’s economic direction since independence has often been directly influenced by major world powers. This is also reflected in energy and food policies that have been largely influenced by the United States for decades.
India has also continued to accept Western sanctions against Iran (2018, 2019, 2020), Venezuela (2019) and other countries, many times at the cost of rising domestic inflation. This parallels the era when the US openly provided assistance to countries such as Pakistan that often threatened India’s security. Over the years, this created a perception that “India’s problems are not the West’s problems, the West’s problems are the world’s problems”.
India, however, continues to buy oil from Russia at a time when Western sanctions are imposed on Russia, sending a subtle signal to the world of a change in its economic stance in international markets and bilateral trade. Years later, India has publicly expressed its economic sovereignty by choosing to put its national interest first, aiming to solve its growing domestic inflation problem by buying cheap Russian oil.
new role
With Russia’s military action against Ukraine, the three-decade-long myth of an “era of no war” and “short wars” is effectively over. States now once again see open, protracted armed conflict as a real threat and are anxious to predict future developments in this regard. These predictions are not limited to identifying changing technologies or pathways to violence, but more importantly, identifying countries that intend to use their military power.
One of the most unpredictable and dangerous players in this regard is China, which has territorial disputes with most of its land and sea neighbors. The world now sees India, the largest military power on China’s neighbourhood, as an important country capable of countering this threat. Through agreements such as the Quad (Strategic Security Dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States) in the East and the I2U2 (United India, Israel, UAE and the United States) in the Middle East, the West now increasingly recognizes India’s role as a global power strength, it is possible to counter China’s ambitions in Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia.
The theoretical concepts of deterrence and anti-alliance are now becoming a reality, and India finds itself at the center of the West’s strategy to prevent another war.
global power
With its new Non-Aligned Movement, assertive assertion of sovereignty and new role in countering China, India is shedding its traditional role as a regional power and becoming a global power in a multipolar world order.
The latest examples of this reality came on three separate occasions in February. The first such example was the comments of US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lew. He commented that he did not think India would end its relationship with Russia and hoped that India would use its leverage with Russia to end the conflict. This is because US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited India in March.
Second, the visit of German Chancellor Olaf Schulz also made headlines. Presumably, Schultz would try to persuade New Delhi to broker peace. A third development in this regard was China’s comments urging an immediate ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with a 12-point proposal to end the conflict. However, US President Joe Biden retorted that the proposal was “unjust” and “unreasonable”. He cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support for the plan as one reason the plan would be good for Russia.
With analysts and the intelligence community predicting that the Russia-Ukraine conflict will only get worse in the coming months, calls for an end to it could be overwhelming. If India can successfully mediate, the Russo-Ukrainian war would effectively usher in a new era for India’s global power and foreign policy in general.
