The West's attempt to "pull India and make Russia" is difficult to achieve

　　Xinhua News Agency, New Delhi, April 29 (International Observer) The West's attempt to "pull India and make Russia" is difficult to achieve

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhao Xu

　　Recently, India has become the "sweet pastry" of the West, and leaders and dignitaries of many Western countries and the European Union have continuously launched diplomatic actions against India.

Analysts pointed out that since the escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, India has adopted a balanced strategy to maintain its "strategic neutrality", which makes the West, which is pulling "small circles" to engage in confrontation around the world and coercing other countries to "choose sides" through the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, is quite dissatisfied. .

They have recently made frequent moves against India, intending to "pull India and make Russia", but judging from the Indian side's reaction, their wishful thinking may fail.

Take turns lobbying

　　After the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States and Europe have been asking other countries to join the ranks of condemning and sanctioning Russia, and one of the important targets is India.

But India has not condemned and sanctioned Russia, and its "equidistant" stance has clearly failed to satisfy its Western partners.

　　On April 11, US President Biden held a video meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to the White House statement, Biden hopes that India will cooperate with the United States and its Western allies in stifling Russia’s energy revenue, and proposed “not to increase the purchase of Russian oil and other commodities at this time.”

On the same day, the "2+2" dialogue between the foreign and defense ministers of the United States and India was held in Washington.

　　On April 21-22, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited India.

Although the Prime Minister's Office said before the visit that Johnson would not seek to "preach" Modi on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, British media reported that Johnson would use the visit as an opportunity to encourage Modi to distance himself from Russia.

Some Western media said in their reports after the visit that the new defense and security partnership announced by the two sides "will help India reduce its dependence on Russia."

　　From April 24 to 25, European Commission President von der Leyen visited India.

During her visit, she expressed her hope that India could re-examine its position on the Ukraine issue, saying that India and the EU are "natural partners" and that both sides have "grown up in an environment of "common rules and a level playing field", but "supporting world peace and security" Core principles are at stake."

Some analysts pointed out that von der Leyen's implication was that he hoped that India would be concerned about the situation in Ukraine based on "common rules" and "fulfill its responsibility as a major power" for the resulting crisis.

　　In addition, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison also asked India to put pressure on Russia during their visit to India and their online meeting with Modi in March.

India has its own considerations

　　Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar explained the Indian government's position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict in the lower house of parliament on March 24.

He said that India's position is consistent and firm. India advocates a peaceful solution to the issue and direct dialogue between the two parties to the conflict.

　　Although the West continues to work on India, India has never changed its position on Russia. Not only has it not joined the sanctions against Russia, but it has also increased the amount of oil purchased from Russia and purchased a batch of air defense weapons. Abstained from voting on the resolution.

　　In the face of Western lobbying, India chose to ignore or even fight back.

For example, Modi did not publicly echo Biden's "pointing", only saying that the situation in Ukraine is "very worrying", and he has called on both Russia and Ukraine to resolve the conflict peacefully.

　　At the press conference after the US-India "2+2" dialogue, Jaishankar faced questions about India's continued import of Russian energy, pointing out that India needs to import Russian energy for its own energy security, and its monthly purchases are less than that of Europe in an afternoon of purchases, people should focus more on Europe than India.

　　Harsh Pant, a researcher at the Indian Observer Research Foundation, said that India and Russia have historically close relations, and the two countries have supported each other on many issues. Although the current absolute trade volume between the two sides is not high, India relies heavily on Russia for weapons and needs to Abundant energy in Russia.

Attempt to fail

　　It is worth mentioning that during Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's visit to India from March 31 to April 1, the two sides reached an agreement on strengthening energy cooperation and promoting the use of the national currency settlement system.

The Russian side announced the news to the outside world, but the Indian side has not officially confirmed it.

Some analysts believe that this approach shows that on the one hand, India will not change its position on Russia, and on the other hand, it is trying to avoid provoking the West.

　　Pant said that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has made the international situation more complicated and brought great difficulties to India's diplomacy. Therefore, the Indian government has to adopt a more complicated way to handle its relations with all parties.

However, he believes that until India achieves self-sufficiency in weapons and energy or finds alternative import channels, its position on Russia will not change in any way, and any pressure from the West is unlikely to force India to abandon its balanced strategy in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. .

　　Krzysztof Ivanek, director of the Center for Asian Studies at the Polish University of War Studies, pointed out in an article that the world today is no longer a bipolar system, and many countries choose to "multiple bets" in international affairs to safeguard their own interests.

It is not easy to pull a country into a certain alliance in a complex network of international relations, and preaching to other governments is not only ineffective, but counterproductive.

　　Jaishankar on April 27 reiterated that India no longer needs the approval of other countries and will conduct diplomacy according to its own situation.

　　Ashley Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, pointed out that India chose neutrality in part because the Soviet Union and Russia "never criticized India's internal affairs, while the United States has done so many times."

India suspects that the US could become an "unpredictable strategic partner".

If the United States wants to incite India to condemn Russia, it needs to cross a very high threshold.

(Participating reporters: Deng Xianlai, Ren Ke)