{"id":86522,"date":"2025-09-22T13:46:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T08:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/?p=86522"},"modified":"2025-09-22T13:46:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T08:46:31","slug":"india-between-moscow-and-the-west-a-case-of-convenient-commitments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/opinion\/india-between-moscow-and-the-west-a-case-of-convenient-commitments\/","title":{"rendered":"India Between Moscow and the West: A Case of Convenient Commitments"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Umair Pervez Khan<\/strong><\/p>\n

India has recently warned its citizens not to join the Russian army in Ukraine, describing such involvement as \u201cfraught with danger.\u201d This came after reports that around 150 Indian nationals had enlisted in the Russian forces, with at least nine killed.<\/p>\n

Many were later repatriated following Prime Minister Modi\u2019s intervention with President Putin in Moscow. The families of the victims, however, accused the Indian government of being soft on travel agents who misled citizens with false promises of employment in Russia.<\/p>\n

By distancing itself from its nationals who fought for Russia, New Delhi projects an image of adhering to international norms that prohibit mercenary activity. Yet this symbolic act stands in sharp contrast to India\u2019s broader foreign policy approach.<\/p>\n

While cautioning its citizens against direct involvement, India has expanded its imports of discounted Russian crude oil, blunting the impact of Western sanctions designed to constrain Moscow\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n

It has also abstained repeatedly from United Nations votes condemning Russia\u2019s blatant violations of Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The contradiction is evident: India claims moral high ground on individual conduct but disregards systemic violations when economic or strategic benefits are at stake.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s defense policy further underscores this balancing act. Once heavily dependent on Moscow, India\u2019s defense imports from Russia have declined from 70% to 36% in recent years. This deliberate diversification allows New Delhi to signal to Washington and Europe that it is not captive to Moscow\u2019s orbit, even as it secures cheap Russian oil to meet immediate needs.<\/p>\n

In effect, India avoids a visible rupture with Russia while quietly reducing Moscow\u2019s long-term leverage over its security.<\/p>\n

At the same time, India leverages its identity as the \u201cworld\u2019s largest democracy\u201d to bolster its global standing. It’s calls for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and its self-promotion as a \u201cbridging power\u201d between the Global South and major powers add to this image.<\/p>\n

But this democratic rhetoric serves not just to boost its image, but it also functions as a tool to undermine China\u2019s bid to lead the Global South. By contrasting its democratic identity with Beijing\u2019s so-called authoritarian model, New Delhi appeals to both developing nations and Western capitals, presenting itself as a more credible and values-based partner.<\/p>\n

Yet this projection is selective and opportunistic. India has shown little hesitation in partnering with authoritarian regimes when it suits its interests, from Myanmar and Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina to Iran and Israel.<\/p>\n

New Delhi\u2019s silence on Israel\u2019s excessive use of force in Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinians, stands in sharp contradiction to its claims of supporting human rights and international law.<\/p>\n

More importantly, India\u2019s domestic record of human rights and democratic norms undermines the very values it seeks to project abroad. The revocation of Article 370 in 2019, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy, was carried out in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions and accompanied by mass detentions, communication blackouts, and a heavy military lockdown. India\u2019s treatment of its Muslim minority, through discriminatory policies such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), has drawn widespread international criticism for institutionalizing exclusion.<\/p>\n

Crackdowns on dissent, curbs on press freedom, arrests of activists under draconian laws like the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and rising attacks on Christians, Dalits, and other marginalized groups all point to democratic backsliding at home.<\/p>\n

Even beyond its borders, India has acted in ways that blatantly violate the very norms it claims to uphold. In 2023, Canadian authorities accused Indian agents of involvement in the assassination of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Similar allegations of targeting Sikh activists have surfaced in the United States and Pakistan, where Indian operatives were reportedly involved in plotting attacks.<\/p>\n

Extraterritorial killings and assassination attempts are not only unlawful under international law, but they also directly undermine the rules-based order India claims to champion. These actions place New Delhi alongside the very authoritarian states it claims to be morally distinct from.<\/p>\n

The selective invocation of democracy thus reveals that principle is secondary to geopolitical expediency. India promotes democracy only when it strengthens its international leverage, whether to differentiate itself from China or to curry favor with Western capitals, while eroding the same values within its own borders and overlooking abuses abroad when convenient.<\/p>\n

Multilateral forums also highlight this pattern. India has limited its engagement in platforms where Russia and China hold a greater role. During its SCO presidency in 2023, India hosted the summit online rather than in person, downplaying the forum\u2019s significance. In 2024, it boycotted the summit in Kazakhstan, and in 2025, its defense minister refused to endorse the SCO communiqu\u00e9. By contrast, New Delhi has actively deepened ties with Western-led initiatives such as the Quad.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, India has obstructed Pakistan\u2019s entry into BRICS+, despite Russia\u2019s support, belittling the very principle of inclusivity it often champions.<\/p>\n

Consequently, these moves reveal a consistent pattern: India carefully navigates between Russia and the West, adopting international norms only when they align with its interests.<\/p>\n

Its selective adherence, discouraging citizens from fighting abroad, importing Russian oil, diversifying arms purchases, invoking democracy to counter China, overlooking Israel\u2019s aggression, repressing minorities at home, plotting against Sikh leadership abroad, and obstructing rivals in multilateral platforms, demonstrates that New Delhi\u2019s commitment to the rule-based order is not rooted in principle but in convenience.<\/p>\n

This duality would possibly downgrade its relations with Russia in the near future, and possibly, Pakistan may be an alternative in the region for Russia, as the reengagement between Pakistan and Russia is visible in recent developments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The writer is the general secretary of the Consortium for Asia Pacific Studies in Pakistan and is pursuing his PhD in international relations from Selcuk University, Turkey.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Umair Pervez Khan India has recently warned its citizens not to join the Russian army in Ukraine, describing such involvement as \u201cfraught with danger.\u201d This came after reports that around 150 Indian nationals had enlisted in the Russian forces, with at least nine killed. Many were later repatriated following Prime Minister Modi\u2019s intervention with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":86526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15813],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86527,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86522\/revisions\/86527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyausaf.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}