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What's the article about?
- It analyses India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Relevance:
- GS2: Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.
Context:
- Recently, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help bring the ongoing Russian military campaign to an end.
- The Ukraine’s President wished for a successful G20 presidency and said that on the G20 platform he had announced the “peace formula” and now he counts on India's participation in its implementation.
- Also, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister visited India.
- In this context, the writer analyses India's stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Analysis:
- The visit by Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister to India demonstrates Kiev's desire to build tighter ties with New Delhi and seek its help in resolving the conflict.
- Earlier, Ukraine had publicly expressed its displeasure over India’s position on the war.
- The war has left India in a difficult position. Russia is a historical partner which India has deep defence ties with and there is no easy, immediate alternative here.
- And, Russia’s aggression is a naked violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and international laws.
- The war has also made India’s ties with its western partners complicated as the trans-Atlantic powers, led by the United States, have launched an economic war against Russia, from which India and most of the Global South have stayed away.
What is a realpolitik approach?
- Realpolitik is a political system that's not based on beliefs, doctrines, ethics, or morals, but rather on realistic, practical ideas.
- The word realpolitik, coined in 1914, comes directly from German, in which it literally means “practical politics.”
India’s stand and realpolitik:
- India tried to navigate this maze of geopolitics through realpolitik — it has refused to condemn Russia, maintained defence and trade ties, as well as expressed its uneasiness with the war and called for respecting the territorial integrity of all nations.
- But as the war drags on, this balancing act could be interpreted as inactiveness.
- India is the chair of the G-20 and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and will be pressed to do more to show global leadership and help end the war.
- The conflict has hurt not only Europe but also the entire world and there is growing consensus among the countries in the Global South that the hostilities should cease at the earliest.
- China and Brazil have sensed this urgency and have hinted at playing a bigger role in brokering peace.
Way Forward:
- India should not shy away from brokering a peace deal. New Delhi has good ties with Moscow, and Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister visit suggests that Kyiv is also looking to India to play a bigger role in peacemaking.
- India’s policy towards the conflict is rooted in its strategic neutrality. But neutrality does not mean that it should do nothing, waiting for the conflict to run its course.
- It should empathise more vocally with the victim, raise the voice and interests of the Global South, and call for upholding international laws and sovereignty of all states, while at the same time pushing for a pragmatic and permanent solution to the conflict.
