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【Text/Observer Network Chen Sijia】Last week, Indian Prime Minister Modi paid a two-day visit to Russia and signed a number of cooperation documents with Russian President Putin. This meeting angered Ukrainian President Zelensky, who accused Modi's visit to Russia of being "a devastating blow to peace efforts" and "extremely disappointing."

But Zelensky's statement soon angered the Indian government. According to the Indian Economic Times, on July 15 local time, the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to India to protest Zelensky's remarks on Modi's visit to Russia. The newspaper said this clearly showed India's dissatisfaction with Zelensky's remarks.

Affected by this incident, the Indian government also decided to postpone the long-planned joint cultural working group meeting between the two countries.

On July 8, local time, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Moscow for a two-day visit to Russia, which was Modi's first visit to Russia since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Modi and Putin discussed bilateral relations, the Ukrainian crisis and other issues. In a joint statement issued after the talks, the two sides stated that it is urgent to peacefully resolve the Ukrainian crisis through dialogue and diplomatic means with the joint participation of Russia and Ukraine.

The Hindustan Times mentioned that a children's hospital in Kiev, Ukraine, was attacked by missiles the day before Modi and Putin held talks. Modi told Putin during the talks: "When innocent children are killed, our hearts are still bleeding, and the pain is terrible."

But this visit caused dissatisfaction among Ukrainian President Zelensky. On the evening of the 8th local time, Zelensky posted on social media, criticizing Modi for embracing Putin in Moscow, saying that "this is extremely disappointing and a devastating blow to peace efforts."

Modi's visit to Russia also made the United States uneasy. Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the US State Department, said that the US "has directly expressed to India its concerns about India-Russia relations." Miller said: "We hope that India and other countries will make it clear when engaging with Russia that Russia should respect the UN Charter and respect Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India has never joined Western countries in imposing sanctions on Russia, and Russia remains India's main oil and arms supplier. Russian media "Russia Today" pointed out that as India purchased more oil and coal from Russia, the bilateral trade volume between Russia and India increased to US$65 billion in 2023.

In contrast, India and Ukraine have maintained a "lukewarm" relationship. The Economic Times said this was mainly due to Ukraine's condemnation of India's 1998 nuclear test, Ukraine's military cooperation with Pakistan, and Ukraine's opposition to India on the Kashmir issue.

Indian media believe that the Indian government has been trying to "walk a tightrope" in diplomacy regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Swasti Rao, an expert on Eurasian issues at the Indian think tank Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses (IDSA), said that Modi aims to portray India as a "credible mediator" between Russia and Ukraine and "try to restore the international community's confidence in India as a credible participant in opposing violence."

Rao said this was also to remind Russia that "in the final analysis, we are a valuable partner and you are a valuable partner, but we also abide by the UN Charter and international law."

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