Modi’s Russia visit on NATO summit eve ruffles US

India-US relationship is not yet deep enough to be taken for granted, US envoy to India Eric Garcetti said amid concerns in Washington over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent Russia visit.

“It’s important for us as Americans and as Indians to remember the more we put into this relationship, the more we will get out. The more we insist on a kind of cynical calculation in the place of a trusted relationship, the less we will get… As I also remind my Indian friends, while it is wider, and it is deeper than it’s ever been, it is not yet deep enough that if we take it for granted from the Indian side towards America,” Garcetti said.

Modi made an official visit to Moscow on 8-9 July at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The timing of the visit did not sit well with the US administration as it came on the eve of the NATO summit in Washington where Russia’s war in Ukraine was in focus. 

Speaking at a private event in New Delhi this week, Garcetti said: “I respect that India likes its strategic autonomy, but in times of conflict, there is no such thing as strategic autonomy. We will, in crisis moments, need to know each other. I don’t care what title we put to it, but we will need to know that we are trusted friends… that in times of need in the next day be acting together, that we’ll know each other’s equipment, that we know each other’s training, we’ll know each other’s systems, and we’ll know each other as human beings as well.”

“No war is distant anymore, and we must not just stand for peace. We must take concrete actions to make sure those who don’t play by peaceful rules, that their war machines cannot continue unabated. That’s something the US needs to know and that India needs to know together,” he said.

“In the past three years, we have witnessed countries which have ignored sovereign borders. I don’t have to remind you how important borders are; it’s a central principle to peace in our world,” Garcetti added.

Pictures of Modi hugging Putin on his arrival in Moscow on 8 July went viral on social media as leaders of NATO member-states were descending in Washington. It also coincided with Russia’s alleged bombing of a school in Ukraine. 

US officials expressed concerns during a series of meetings and phone calls with Indian counterparts, according to a Bloomberg report, citing US and Indian officials. 

Modi’s first visit to Russia in five years provided fodder for groups inside and outside of the US government who are critical of closer ties with Modi’s government, the report said. 

“India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in a full and frank dialogue. And that includes our concerns about their relationship with Russia,” US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller said this week. 

“I will look at Prime Minister Modi’s public remarks to see what he talked about. But as I said, we made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia. So we would hope India and any other country, when they engage with Russia, would make clear that Russia should respect the UN charter, should respect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Miller said at his daily press briefing on 9 July. 

Some officials have been public in asking New Delhi to take a stand on the Ukraine war. 

Liam Wasley, director of the office of European security and political affairs at the US State Department, told Press Trust of India that New Delhi must play a constructive role in ensuring peace in Ukraine and providing it with the impetus to be able to negotiate with Russia.