There is plenty of speculation about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Ukraine later this month. This will be Modi’s first visit to Ukraine since Russia launched special operations in Ukraine on February 24, 2022; the war which is clearly now the US-led war on Russia using Ukraine as the proxy. Modi’s visit to Ukraine will likely coincide with Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations on August 24, which Ukraine celebrates in commemoration of its Declaration of Independence in 1991.
Notably, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russia on July 8-9 this year for the 22nd India–Russia Annual Summit at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky slammed Modi in a tweet saying it was a huge disappointment to see the leader of the largest democracy in the world hugging world’s most bloody criminal.
Concurrent to the above, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asiam Donald Lu told American lawmakers at a Congressional hearing, “I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends.” Lu also said two weeks before Modi went to Moscow; he met Zelenskyy on the margins of the G7 summit in Italy.
After meeting Putin, Modi had said they openly exchanged opinions on the Ukraine crisis and that very interesting ideas and completely new views had emerged from their talks. However, Putin questioned the legitimacy of Zelensky last month, claiming that his term has expired and raised concerns about his authority. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Zelensky’s continuation in office under martial law could complicate potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. The controversy is further fueled by Zelensky’s 2022 order banning any negotiations with Putin, which Moscow says could hinder peace efforts.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said the purpose of Modi’s visit to Ukraine will be revealed in due course of time at an appropriate time. There are many suppositions whether this visit by Modi is more than a balancing act between the US and Russia. One opinion is that Modi may propose mediation for the Russia-Ukraine conflict because of India’s long-standing relations and trust with both Russia and Ukraine.
On July 28, 2024, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of a just and enduring peace for Ukraine in a meeting with Jaishankar. The US State Department issued a statement saying, “Secretary Blinken underscored the importance of realizing a just and enduring peace for Ukraine consistent with the UN Charter.” It is amusing to see Blinken citing the UN Charter when it has vetoed recent UN resolutions and defied the UNGA, ICC and ICJ rulings, not to talk of America breaking its promise made in 1990 that NATO will not expand one inch east of a unified Germany.
The US can’t get over its “Mutt and Jeff” policy. Modi has announced plans to make India ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed country) by 2047, but here we have US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell already referring to India as a “Great Power”. He said during a recent Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing that India will never be a “formal” US ally but he expects India to engage more directly in Ukraine. How sweet – perhaps he could have predicted a Nobel Peace Prize for Modi if he resolved the war in Ukraine.
But the “Great Power” boost was accompanied with backstabs. Indian media goes into a frenzy describing Indian-origin Diaspora with politicians drooling over votes. But here we have Vedant Patel, deputy spokesperson of US State Department, firing a shot at India during his media briefing on August 2, 2024, saying, “We continue to expect accountability from the government of India in relation to the alleged role of an Indian government employee in the failed attempt to assassinate a US citizen on US soil that occurred last summer.” He was referring to the weasel-looking CIA-pet Gurpatwant Singh Pannun who is a designated terrorist by India.
The US has been periodically raising the Pannun issue, despite orchestrating the killings of scores of Indian nuclear scientists, including Dr Homi J Bhabha, widely known as the father of India’s nuclear program. American cries over Pannun, who is alive and kicking, is akin to a prostitute sermonizing on virginity.
Despite tomtoming India as a non-NATO ally, bragging about sharing state-of-the-art technology, and bagging billions of dollars worth of defence deals from India, the US has shot New Delhi in the foot over India’s Tejas fighter jet production program. There is further delay of a few months in the delivery of F404-IN20 engines by General Electric. This is despite US officials and US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti raving on rooftops about technological cooperation and 100% transfer of technology of this engine, which again is highly doubtful.
Instead of delivering 16 GE F404-IN20 engines by July 30, 2024, only four engines are likely to be delivered by September. According to GE Aerospace, “The aerospace industry continues to experience unprecedented supply chain pressures.” What the firm wouldn’t mention is that these “unprecedented supply chain pressures” are because of America’s sanctions regime, which other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) also face.
The beauty is that the US is well aware of the fighter jet shortages of the Indian Air Force while it gleefully expects a war between India and China-Pakistan, in line with the ‘Annual Threat Assessment Of The US Intelligence Community’ published on February 5, 2024 by the US government’s Office of the Director of National Intelligence; to exact strategic and economic benefits from this war.
It is hilarious to witness the US trying to portray it wants to resolve the Ukraine conflict and Modi can help broker peace between Putin and Zelensky. This, while the US deep state (arms and oil lobbies included), to whose tune the POTUS must dance; wants the war in Ukraine to continue endlessly. Zelensky is a mere poodle or better described as a geopolitical-prostitute but having complete backing of the RBO (Rogue-Based Order), which is why he has passed a law that Ukraine doesn’t have to pay its debts.
Finally, how is Modi supposed to broker peace when America’s deep state, which heads the RBO, wants the war in Ukraine to continue. In fact, the POTUS Joe Biden was sucking up to the deep state even when he was Vice President by saying in 1997 the only thing that could provoke a “vigorous and hostile” Russian response would be if NATO expanded to the Baltic States.
The US presidential race is really about whether to continue the war in Ukraine or not. Donald Trump has indicated he would stop the war but Kamala Harris will follow Biden’s footsteps. For the present US Administration, Modi’s Ukraine trip is no more than Begani Shadi Mein Abdulla Deewana.
The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.
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