Daily Times

Amid the military conflict in Ukraine, Russia held its Vostok (East) 2022 exercises alongside other nations in Siberia. Although, the US had already announced its apprehension of any country that militarily cooperated with Russia after the initiation of its military operation in Ukraine and despite the West’s best efforts, many countries participated in the exercise which has sent a clear message that neither Russian prowess had been impacted nor Russia had been isolated due to invasion of Ukraine. Among the participants were Azerbaijan, Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Syria, and Tajikistan. China’s participation was taken as a sign of growing trust between the two neighboring nations.

Another conspicuous participant was the Republic of India ruled by the Hindutva BJP regime which sent a single contingent of its 7th Battalion of the 8th Gorkha Rifles Regiment. India only participated in the land based component of Vostok and declined to participate in maritime part of the exercise which took place near the Southern Kuril Islands. Earlier in 2020 also, India withdrew from Kavkaz 2020 multinational exercise held in Russia in the third week of September, citing logistics difficulties due to Covid-19 pandemic. Many observers saw the excuse as a ploy to maintain better ties with the US in wake of clashes with China in Ladakh.

It is worth mentioning that although Indian participation in Exercise Vostok has raised concerns worldwide especially among the West which has always tried to portray New Delhi as a natural ally against its competitors, however, these concerns have been limited to news briefings only with no tangible reaction from the West. Instead the US seems to have given a free pass to India when the Pentagon stated that India was a sovereign nation with the freedom to choose which nation to hold military exercises with (a choice the US seldom gives to other nations).  Similarly, France has also emulated the US in this matter. Interestingly, India conducts much of its multilateral exercises with the US itself. Only a month before, both the US and India had conducted joint special forces exercise Vajra Prahar 2022 and next month both nations will be holding their regular Yudh Abhyas series of wargames near the China border in Uttarakhand. Nevertheless, as India pursues closer ties with Washington, it still buys Russian equipment such as S400 anti air system, MiG 29K fighters, Brahmos missiles etc, it has not condemned Russian military operations in Ukraine while filling its tank with cheap Russian oil. As a Polish news site observed “India plays its own game buying Russian oil and competing with China”.

Indian propaganda, being spewed from Indian media outlets and think tanks, is trying to craft this game as “balanced foreign policy” and “neutrality” instead of deception or a product of strategic confusion.  This deception is more apparent in the fact that it is part of both the Russia & China led SCO and the US led Quad (military & economic organizations) which have competing objectives and are considered antithesis of each other.

This is not a recent change in policy behaviour but an Indian trait ever since the country was created by the British in 1947. As I explained in an earlier article, India’s strategic confusion arises from its perception of itself as a great power and eternal civilization whose friendship is indispensable to the world. This delusion was bolstered by the exceptional treatment it received at the hands of the USA and USSR during the Cold War and later on US favours such as a nuclear deal despite not fulfilling several parameters.

Here the Great Powers, especially the United States, must introspect their biased behaviour, which looks more and more as appeasement, has only increased Indian unreliability. Indeed, it can be stated that global rules based order has been damaged by the US itself through its appeasement of regimes like India and Israel. This biased behaviour of the US raises quite a few questions in the mind of a global citizen that how can US ask others to cut down ties with Russia over its annexation of Crimea while it turns a blind eye to the Indian annexation of Occupied Kashmir or Zionsit annexation of Palestine? Under what set of principles can US sanction a NATO ally Turkiye over purchasing Russian defense equipment while ignoring larger Indian purchases of similar nature? How can US ask other countries to put their populace through backbreaking inflation by refusing cheaper Russian fuel imports while shutting its eyes to Indian imports from Russia?

American appeasement has only resulted in creating imbalance especially between Indian and Pakistan. The US must also recognise that it is not serving the cause of democracy by appeasing the Hindutva regime in India who openly exhibit supremacist and fascist tendencies with each passing day. By propping up the BJP regime, the West is not doing any favors to the common Indian who not only has to contend with lack of jobs, misgovernance, law & order  but also religious terrorism & caste violence on a daily bases under Modi. In the end much like the Munich pact of 1938, the West will relive the experience of knowing that fascism (in any form) cannot be appeased.

The author is an M Phil from National Defence University (NDU) Islamabad in International Relations and routinely writes on current affairs.