Indian PM Modi to skip annual Putin summit over Ukraine nuke threats – media reports
Vladimir Putin awaits Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO summit, September 17, 2022 (Photo:Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won’t be holding an annual in-person summit with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin after the latter threatened to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Dec. 9.
Bloomberg quoting a senior Indian official, said the relationship between India and Russia remains strong, but trumpeting the friendship at this point may not be beneficial for Modi.
It is noted India’s decision was clear at a regional summit held in September in Uzbekistan, when Modi urged Putin to seek peace in Ukraine, said a Russian official familiar with the preparations.
“It won’t be this year,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of prospects for a Putin-Modi summit, the state-run TASS news service reported later on Dec. 9.
It would mark only the second time the leaders of India and Russia haven’t met face to face since 2000, when the relationship was elevated to a strategic partnership. The summit, usually held in December, was cancelled just once in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Bloomberg, Modi’s government is trying to balance between Moscow, a key provider of weapons and cheap energy, and the United States and its allies, which have imposed sanctions and price caps on Russian oil.
Since Russia’s invasion began, India has been one of the biggest swing nations. Modi’s government abstained from United Nations votes to condemn Putin’s war and held back from participating in U.S.-led efforts to sanction Moscow, using the opportunity to snatch up cheap Russian oil.
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