Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin are set to meet in Kyrgyzstan's capital, Bishkek, on Monday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit — a bloc often seen as a counterweight to US influence. The meeting comes against the backdrop of the fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran, which has disrupted global energy markets, and Russia's war in Ukraine, now in its fifth year. India has remained engaged with the SCO while resisting efforts to turn it into an anti-Western bloc.
Its position reflects a broader effort to maintain relationships with competing powers. That approach is under greater pressure. Russia remains under Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, India has faced US pressure over its purchases of Russian oil, alongside wider trade tensions. A former Indian ambassador to the US, Meera Shankar, told DW that India's relationship with Russia should not be seen as directed against the US. "India has a long-standing strategic relationship with Russia.
This is not directed against any country but intended to help India meet its national goals," said Shankar. Energy has become the most visible change in the India-Russia relationship. Before 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it supplied only a small share of India's crude imports.
Discounted Russian oil rapidly changed that, making Moscow one of India's biggest suppliers. It has also become the most contentious part of India's relationship with the US, which has pressed New Delhi to reduce its purchases from Russia. India maintains that securing affordable and reliable energy is a national interest.
The disruption to traditional energy supplies has made that calculation more complicated. This year's US-Israel war on Iran and disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz have affected India's purchases from the Gulf and pushed up prices. Shankar said India is responding by diversifying its sources of supply, including both Russia and the US.
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