Experts argue that a rush of visits by Russian and Western diplomats is unlikely to change India's neutral posture on the Ukraine conflict, especially given the war has the support of a public that has been inundated by media coverage that blames the conflict on the US.
While US and British officials pressed India to criticize Russia's actions in Ukraine this week in New Delhi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov thanked the government for not taking a "one-sided stance.""We welcome that India is considering all the facts in this situation," Lavrov said after meeting with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, in New Delhi on Friday.
Lavrod further stated that despite Western restrictions against U.S.-dollar transactions with Moscow, India and Russia would employ a rupee-ruble mechanism to continue trading in oil and other items.
"Any things that India wishes to buy, we would be ready to supply," he stated.A day earlier, a US official stated that while the US is not opposed to India buying Russian oil, which is being sold at a deep discount after the US, the UK, and other nations issued embargoes, it does not want to see a "fast acceleration" of such imports.
"Countries that deliberately attempt to circumvent or backfill these sanctions will face consequences," said the official, Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser in New Delhi.
On Thursday, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who was also in New Delhi, said that Britain would not impose its policies on India, the world's largest democracy, but highlighted the importance of "like-minded nations cooperating."
At a policy seminar in New Delhi, Jaishankar maintained that the European Union was still buying Russian oil and that, with prices so high, it was "logical" for countries to look for the best bargains.
According to Reuters, India has purchased at least 13 million barrels of Russian oil since the invasion on February 24, about as much as it purchased in the entire year of 2021.
"India will buy it because it requires that oil for its development," said Arun Sahgal, senior fellow for strategic and regional security at the Delhi Policy Group, an independent think tank.
We could have stopped the invasion, but'some of the Western actors were too late' (MSNBC)Russia's cheaper oil has been received with relief and increased public sympathy for Moscow in a country where every hike in gas prices sparks protests.
"Russia is India's oldest ally for so long, and the Western world has pushed it to the corner," Renuka Jain, a Delhi-based accountant, said through a messaging app.
The oil purchases, she said, were a "great idea."
"The United States is more anxious about what will happen if the oil is purchased in an other currency and the dollar loses its luster," she said.
Though India has grown closer to the United States in recent years, it has traditionally relied on Russia for defense supplies, fighter jets, and diplomatic backing in its conflicts with China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh."We've only been saved by the Russians – whether it's the Kashmir issue, the Bangladesh war, national security difficulties, industry, or the economics," Phunchok Stobdan, a foreign policy expert and former Indian ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, told NBC News via phone from the northern Indian city of Leh.
This pro-Russian sentiment can be seen in the streets, on social media, and on television screens all around the country. Right-wing organizations in India are marching with banners holding chants like "Long Live India-Russia Friendship" while much of the globe marches in favor of Ukraine and against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The unfortunate aspect of the story is that they watch Netflix and Apple TV at night then curse America the next day," Sahgal remarked.
The mainstream media in India, which caters to a right-wing Hindu majority, has accused the United States of hypocrisy in the Ukraine conflict, claiming that the West played a key role in provoking it by supporting NATO's eastward expansion during the Cold War to confront the Soviet Union."I don't believe in the concept of Americans declaring themselves innocent," top-rated news anchor Arnab Goswami said in a monologue on March 11, citing the United States' atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the conclusion of WWII as an example.
Rahul Shivshankar, another well-known news anchor, has moderated discussions titled "Is the War Planned or Provoked?" He said India has the freedom to take stances that differ from those taken by the West, and he praised India's "judicious" neutrality toward Ukraine.
India, like China, has called for a peaceful conclusion to the crisis but has voted against UN resolutions condemning Russia's conduct. Smaller countries in Asia and elsewhere gain confidence as a result, according to Stobdan, as they try to balance their connections with big powers.
"Putin will not halt his work simply because India votes for or against Russia. He stated, "He will do whatever he wants." "It won't make a difference whether India exists or not. However, what India does in the international arena makes a difference."
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