Look at it. On Thursday, the Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said in a video address at a conference that President Putin will visit India and preparations are on. The conference was on ‘Russia and India: Together Towards a New Bilateral Agenda” Our EAM also spoke saying that India and Russia are navigating a complex geopolitical landscape and underlined that the era of multipolarity necessitated greater cooperation between the two countries. All high sounding words but there was no mention on the nature of preparations and when exactly President Putin will be visiting.

If I am correct and generally I am, Thursday’s declaration was the fifth such announcement about the Putin visit and preparations for that by a high ranking Russian official since October 22 last year. President Putin’s visit to India is due since his last visit in December 2021. After that in February 2022, the Ukraine war started. The Hague based International Criminal Court (ICC) declared President Putin a war criminal and ordered his arrest in a member country of ICC if he visited. For Putin, it was a critical period, he did not visit countries excepting his friendly country China and two others close to his government. Though India is not a member of ICC, Putin’s due visit to India was not given priority in the next two years. Only the issue of visit was seriously taken up at the Kazan summit when the Russian side announced it in a big way that the President had accepted the Indian PM’s invitation.

Originally, the visit was meant for December 2024, the usual month, Putin visited India earlier. It did not happen. Then Trump took over on January 20 this year and Narendra Mod’s visit was talked of. Just in the first week of February this year, the dates were fixed for U.S. visit on February 12 and 13. Expectations were there that Putin visit would take place soon after Modi’s U.S. visit. But more than six weeks have passed since Indian PM’s February 12-13 visit to Washington, but no firm dates have been indicated to the Russian side. That is why the Russian foreign minister had to remind again on March 27 in that video address about the pending visit.

Why is Narendra Modi still hesitating to give firm dates to the Russian side for the visit of their President even more than five months have passed after the final announcement in Kazan? Russia is not Bangladesh that the Prime Minister can avoid meeting the interim head of the government Dr. Muhammad Yunus for the last seven and half months and still refusing to give his neighbouring country head time at the coming BIMSTEC meeting in Bangkok which he will be visiting on April 2-4. Russia has been standing by India steadfastly during its trying years. India’s balance of payments crisis could have deteriorated if India did not get oil at cheap prices from Russia during covid years.

In the coming month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Sri Lanka from April 4 to 6 after finishing his schedule in Bangkok. He has time after that. If the Indian side has any sense of gratitude to a long time friend and any geo political sense, the South Bloc must not lose any time, PMO must tell the dates of President Putin’s visit to the external affairs ministry so that they can officially announce.

Indian foreign policy is in a mess with PMO in the driver’s seat and Dr. S Jaishankar following them. India is isolated in South Asia. SAARC defunct due to India’s blatant opposition to its functioning. India has lost its standing in BRICS due to the government’s identification too much with the US global policy in Asia Pacific. Brazil and South Africa see Prime Minister Modi with some doubts. Russia still stands by India for historical reasons. Prime Minister should honour that and remove all misgivings by cordially welcoming Russian President Putin to India as early as possible. Prime Minister should take proper lessons from the present geo political developments after Trump’s beginning of second term on January 20 this year. He has to see that all Indian eggs are not put in one basket. (IPA Service)