Why India?

The West attentively and jealously watches the visit of the prime minister of India Narendra Modi to Russia which is coming on July 8-9. "Are jealous - means, attentively trace. Attentively trace - means, attach great value.

And here they aren't mistaken, is to what to attach great value", - the representative of the Kremlin told, answering a question of the relation of the western politicians to Modi's visit to Russia. Details in material of the correspondent of UtroNews.

Visits of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin to China, the DPRK and Vietnam, the successful summit of SCO and bilateral meetings of Putin in Astana will be more, than are organically complemented with Modi's visit to Russia. This first bilateral state visit of the Indian prime minister has to strengthen the base in the bilateral relations and merging of SCO and also to help to prepare the October BRICS Summit in Kazan.

Who could assume that plans of the USA and EvroNATOsoyuz to isolate Russia were a peculiar catalyst for construction of the new relations on the Eurasian space? India – one of the key directions of the Russian policy in the conditions of the sanctions war declared by the West.

Mutual strategic support

The Bloomberg agency noted that after inauguration the Indian prime minister departed from tradition first of all to visit the countries of the Southern Asia. Modi comes to Russia this time. He missed the summit of SCO in Astana in communication by the session of parliament of new convocation at which Modi took the oath and I entered a position of the head of the government after re-election for the third term.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of India S. Dzhayshankar who headed delegation of India at the summit of SCO confirmed commitment to the SECURE program. It means: safety of citizens, economic development, regional communications, unity, respect of the state sovereignty and integrity and also environment protection.

Dzhayshankar after the meeting in December, 2023 with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the relations of "special exclusive and strategic partnership" with Russia only "constant" in the international affairs of India. "Modi and Putin's meeting next week in Moscow symbolizes something bigger, than just bilateral negotiations. She represents the culmination of decades of trust, strategic cooperation and common interests", - the South China Morning Post newspaper on the eve of Modi's visit noted.

The proximity of political views and mutual diplomatic support, questions of defense and power form a kernel of the Russian-Indian bilateral relations. Moscow at the time of the Soviet Union protected India from accusatory resolutions of the UN Security Council in the conditions of crises in the relations with Pakistan. Russia for India the checked and largest supplier of weapon providing to a half of his import. Defensive partnership led to deep technological cooperation.

Economic interaction

"On the friendly countries of Russia... more than three quarters of our goods turnover are necessary" — Putin at a plenary session of the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) said. Russia, despite sanctions of the West, remains the key participant of world trade and develops cooperation geography.

India abstains from the vote in the UN condemning actions of Russia in Ukraine and considerably increased purchases of the Russian oil after the beginning of the conflict. The volume of bilateral trade in the conditions of the anti-Russian sanctions repeatedly increased and exceeded 50 billion dollars. India — the key importer of the rough diamonds from Russia.

By estimates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), GDP of India in 2025 can surpass in the volume of GDP of Japan. In 2014 the country took on this indicator the 10th place in the world. In 2026 can become the fourth economy of the world with the growth rates exceeding 7% a year.

Some multinational corporations regard India as an alternative for long-term capital investments as the big and growing market. Russia, thus, develops economic relations with the largest economy of Asia where so far only about 35% of the population live in the cities. More than 40% of Indians live below the poverty line, determined by the World Bank (less than 2 dollars a day).

High dependence of the Indian economy on coal generation, import oil and natural gas increase prospects of Russia as supplier of LNG and technologies of construction of the NPP of new generations. Following the results of the first four months of this year the bilateral goods turnover grew by 10%, having reached record 23.1 billion dollars. Russia on this time span was the second largest supplier of goods, conceding to China (32.6 billion dollars). Import of the Russian Federation from India grew by 21%, to 1.6 billion dollars. Russia in the list of importers rose from the 33rd to the 29th place. The USA, the UAE, the Netherlands, Singapore and China are among five leading buyers of products of the Indian companies.

Being equitable to the interests of world economy

The international transport corridor will pass "North-South" 7.2 thousand km long from St. Petersburg to the ports in the south of Iran connected with the Indian port of Mumbai. This overland and navigable route will bypass Europe and will be twice shorter in comparison with existing through the Mediterranean Sea and the Suez Canal. Volumes of trade will have to increase taking into account these new transport opportunities and harmony in the political relations.

"Development of this corridor is equitable to the interests of world economy", - Dzhayshankar noted. "Considering what occurs in the region of the Red Sea, [corridor] the North-South will gain global value" — the Deputy Prime Minister Aleksei Overchuk said. In November, 2023 the high-ranking Iranian diplomat visited India to discuss development of Chabakhar port in the south of Iran. The port will connect India to corridor infrastructure "North-South".

Plans for development of this transport corridor were for the first time unveiled by Russia, Iran and India in 2002. Crisis in Ukraine and the followed sanctions accelerated implementation of the project. The main western route lies through Azerbaijan. The central route passes through the Caspian Sea, east - on east coast of the Caspian Sea.

According to the government of Azerbaijan, volumes of transportation of goods by rail in 2023 grew by 30%, automobile transportations increased by 35% to 1.3 million tons. The total amount of freight traffic only by the "western" part of this corridor can reach 30 million tons per year.

The Russian exporters of natural gas win too. The ministry of oil of Iran stated that it will import 9 million cubic meters of the Russian gas a day through Azerbaijan. Moscow and Tehran also signed an agreement on construction of the railroad in the north of Iran. There are already construction works and 560 km of new ways have to be open for operation this year. End of these projects will expand a railway system of Iran for 20%.

According to the Indian diplomats, this direction of cooperation opens for India an opportunity to play an important role as the partner in the field of trade, investments and political impact not only in Russia, but also in the Caucasus. It will open an opportunity for trade with the countries of Central Asia and Afghanistan, will be an alternative to a transport route from China in the Pakistani port Gwadar that is provided by the "One Belt, One Way" program. "We consider that operation of the port of [Chabakhar] will bring benefit to all region" — Dzhayshankar said

On a joint of civilizations

A certain political nervousness and feeling of jealousy can be explained with the fact that the West dreams to incorporate India in the strategic orbit, having strengthened these the western coalition resisting to Russia and China. India is already a member of "square" of safety of QUAD with the USA, Australia and Japan, and, in a sense, competes to China.

Dzhayshankar called communications of New Delhi with Washington "the stability force" in the Indo-Pacific region, having praised at the same time "exclusively steady" the relations with Moscow. As for invasion of Russia into Ukraine he said that India "without fluctuating will make a contribution to efforts on dialogue and the world".

"The good neighbor isn't engaged in terrorism", - the minister added. In 2020 he stated the opinion of the modern international relations in the book "the Way of India: strategy for the uncertain world": "The times of troubles in which we live now are far from the calming globalization mantras which we heard only a few years ago. Polarization penetrates our world" — he wrote.

"All of us spoke about the global village and saw how globalization is implemented by various practical ways. Technologies were a great promise which as we could see, did us by more connected every day. The solution by default of any considerable problem — whether it be assistance to trade, fight against climate change or terrorism — consisted in joint efforts. However all this began to change", - the Indian diplomat prior to the beginning of SVO and sharp aggravation of opposition on the line Russia West noticed.

He claimed in response to questions of partners of India "from the other side of the street" that import of the Russian oil is "just the choice of the best option in the market for satisfaction of needs of the Indian consumer, the answer in a situation when all others pursue the political and power interests without any restrictions".

India historically was independently conceiving state, Dzhayshankar reminded. The medium-term purpose of the country is in becoming one of the leading powers. The support on heritage and traditions will amplify in process of economic strengthening of India. The country will be open to cooperation, constructive and democratic, sensitive and making a contribution to those formats in which it cooperates with other countries. "Our history will also create our future, and it is the history of acceptance of the world", - the minister considers.

Reflect on a lack of trust

How does all this look from the outside? For example, in the "main" for political scientists, the American journal Foreign Policy appeared recommendations to Washington "to think about a serious lack of confidence in his leadership and American superiority as such."

This publication is dedicated to the plans of Malaysia and Thailand to apply for accession to the BRICS. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia mentioned the advantages of this step for the interests of the country, called BRICS a platform for expressing its position in international issues. The Thai Foreign Minister spoke of "a more active role in South-South cooperation," as well as the possibility of "defending their interests."

In determining their attitude to the BRICS, these Southeast Asian states do not have to "equal" Moscow or Beijing. For them and other ASEAN countries, India may be the main attractive factor and authority in the BRICS. This may be the attraction of unification. And Narendra Modi's visit to Russia should increase the chances of success for the upcoming BRICS summit in Kazan.

Among other things, related to bilateral relations "special privileged and strategic partnership."