Context

  • India has had to walk a diplomatic tightrope over Russia-Ukraine issue as it tries to balance its ties with Moscow and the West.

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India’s stand on the Russia- Ukraine conflict

  • India’s first statement in the UN Security Council (UNSC) did not name any country directly but it said it regretted that calls from the international community to give diplomacy and dialogue a chance had not been heeded.
    • It, however, stopped short of criticising Russia.
  • India talked about the importance of the UN Charter, international law, and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states while calling on the member states to honour these principles in finding a constructive way forward.
  • India along with 34 other countries abstained from a UN General Assembly resolution that censured Russia over its military actions against Ukraine.
    • India had also abstained from the UN Security Council procedural vote to call for a General Assembly session on the Ukraine crisis.
  • India appears to be following the strategy of non-alignment and promoting dialogue to resolve issues.
    • India has been constantly appealing for peace.
    • India at UNSC strongly emphasized the need for all sides to exercise the utmost restraint and intensify diplomatic efforts to ensure a mutually amicable solution.
  • India’s stand on the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis could be termed as

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Arguments in favour of India’s stand

  • Arguments justifying India’s stand on the issue rely on the fact that in international affairs, a country must be primarily guided by its national interest.

Strategic significance of Russia for India

  • Given India’s very high dependence on Russia for defence equipment and the likely need of support on the Pakistan issue in the Security Council, India must not offend Russia by condemning the invasion and this could be one of the main reasons behind India’s stand.
  • Russia continues to be India’s largest arms supplier even though its share has dropped to 49% from 70% due to India’s decision to diversify its portfolio and boost domestic defence manufacturing.
  • Russia is supplying equipment like the S-400 missile defence system which gives India crucial strategic deterrence against China and Pakistan, and that is the reason why it went ahead with the order despite threats of looming US sanctions.

East-west conflict

  • Another important argument for the current stand rests on the grounds that the Russian invasion and the West’s reaction, is a conflict between the east and the west, and India should stay out of it.

Student evacuation issue

  • India also has had the tough task of trying to evacuate 20,000 citizens, mostly students, from Ukraine.
    • Given that safety assurances are needed from all parties in a conflict to run a successful evacuation operation partly explains India’s neutral stand on the issueIndia’s taking side in the conflict could endanger the safety of its citizens.
  • Notably, India has been able to get help both from Ukraine and Russia to evacuate its citizens. With hundreds of citizens still stuck in Ukraine, India with its stand can continue to seek cooperation from all sides.

Balancing ties

  • India has a connection with both countries involved in the war – economically, security-wise, education-wise and politically as well.
    • This is the reason why India has taken a neutral stand in the conflict.
  • India’s neutral stand allows it to keep channels open with everyone.
    • In that sense, India is in a unique position as it’s one of the few countries which has good relations both with the west and Russia.

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Arguments against India’s stand

Weal moral principles

  • India’s action is tantamount to averting attention from unprovoked aggression towards an independent country by the much stronger Russian army.
  • India’s refusal to take a firm line on the Russian invasion comes across as India’s lack of compassion for the people of Ukraine facing military aggression.
    • India’s stand on the issue comes across as unethical given that India chose its own national interests over the plight of innocent Ukrainian nationals.
  • This would adversely impact, India’s image in the international domain where it seeks to establish itself as the ‘Vishwaguru’ or World Teacher.

Lack of commitment to international laws and principles

  • The stand taken by India also demonstrates the lack of commitment to established principle in international affairs. It in fact goes against the principles of Panchsheel– the guiding principle for Peaceful Coexistence in international relations.
  • The stand also goes against the ancient belief of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, implying that the world is a family.
  • The stand taken by India leave it in the company of Russia and China. These nations have often indulged in aggression against sovereign states and viewed as disruptors of international peace and security.

Interests and principles cannot be separated

  • The article argues that it is untenable to separate national interests and national principles. Given that the principles are the most deeply held beliefs about how the world must be ordered, then the nation’s interest lies in ensuring that these principles prevail in international relations.
  • The article argues that India’s stand on the issue could rebound on Indians in their interaction with the rest of the world in the future, unfavourably. If India does not want to see itself to be the victim of territorial aggression in the future, it must communicate strongly on the world stage that it condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Changed international relations dynamics

  • Notably, India had taken a similar stance during the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 where it had abstained from voting in the UN.
    • The article however argues that the two situations cannot be compared given that in the 1950s the West was mostly unsympathetic to India’s concerns and was backing Pakistan on the Kashmir issue with the erstwhile Soviet Union rescuing India several times by exercising its veto in the UN Security Council.
  • The current situation however is different given that India shares strategic relations with the U.S. led west and also there is public condemnation of unconditional support of Pakistan vis-à-vis India in these countries. Notably Russia has been growing close to Pakistan, with the sale of weapon systems and bilateral military exercises.

Flawed defence supply argument

  • Though India continues to rely on the Russians for defence equipment and their spare parts, at the same time there has been the emergence of a global market for arms.
    • So India could as well source such equipment or spare parts from the global market if Russia decides to block arms and spare supplies to India.
  • Notably India too has been diversifying its defence imports with new agreements with U.S., Israel, France, Sweden etc.
    • This offers India a great degree of independence from excessive dependency on Russia.

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Conclusion

  • India being a democracy cannot look away from the violation of widely accepted norms contained in the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine for fear of losing access to its supply of armaments or of reciprocal support in the UN on matters of concern to it.
  • Instead India must take a long view of how it wants to engage with the world and deal with such situations.
    • Sticking to the time tested principles and norms of international relations is not just in India’s national interest, it is also its own reward.

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