‘War is a failure of diplomacy’. This is what seems to have guided India when it came to taking a clear stand on the Ukraine crisis amid the growing pressure by the western powers on New Delhi to join them to condemn Russia for creating such an ‘unseemly’ situation.
Undoubtedly, India has been under tremendous pressure to pick a side in the Ukraine crisis. The US and the other NATO member states continued to egg on New Delhi to be critical of Moscow ever since the crisis started boiling over with Russian military mobilisation on the border with Ukraine. But India chose to maintain a fine balance, and rightly so, making its position clear, in no uncertain terms, in the UN that the tensions over Ukraine should be diffused through dialogue and diplomacy. That India steered clear of commenting on or referring to Russia and its action on the Ukraine border, in effect, amounted to conveying a clear-cut message to the western powers that it was not siding with anyone in this whole development. The other message that the US and its allies cannot lose sight of is that India is not ready to ignore the history of its bilateral and friendly relations with Russia and also its defence ties with Moscow. That Russia rushed to welcome what it called India’s “balanced, principled and independent approach’ towards the Ukraine situation made it abundantly clear that India succeeded to drive home the message.
Placing on record India’s Ukraine stand at the UNSC, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations T.S. Tirumurti firmly said, “Any steps that increase tension may best be avoided by all sides in the larger interest of securing international peace and security. Quiet and constructive diplomacy is the need of the hour. This issue can only be resolved through diplomatic dialogue.” What is also understandable from what Tirumurti said is that India expressed concern not only about a threat to a single state but also about “international peace and security”, which reflects Delhi’s larger vision about the global peace and development. Therefore, India’s moderate stand, so far, is definitely commendable.
As far as geopolitical realities are concerned, India sees China as an immediate threat. With the global focus shifted on the Ukraine situation, the diplomatic leadership of India apparently also wants to underline the fact that it has different strategic priorities at hand like China’s aggressive agenda and terrorism from Pakistan and Afghanistan. But India has not, at the same time, given the global community any chance to draw inferences that it is not concerned about the Ukraine crisis at all. India has shown that Ukraine situation matters to it. New Delhi asked Indian nationals to consider leaving Ukraine “temporarily” in what could be seen as the country’s attempt to highlight its concern about its people living in the crisis-torn nation.
Moreover, India should use this opportunity, which it will, to remind the world community of China being the biggest threat to the entire global order with its sinister agenda to grow influence illegally and through unfair means in various countries and regions for a strategic foothold.
What is also advisable is that India needs to be cautious and watchful of the Ukraine situation which is, by all accounts, far from being normal. It continues to be uncertain, given the reports coming from the ground suggesting the situation still being volatile, even though war hysteria has dialled down a bit. Indian diplomatic strategists will have to keep a close watch over the situation, given the fact that differences between Russia and NATO are still there.
So, in view of this, how the situation unfolds is something that will keep Indian diplomats on their toes in future. India may have come up with a balanced view without getting into any kind of controversy so far, but Delhi will be expected to ventilate its views on more developments that will happen in days to come, an exercise that will require a much sharper diplomatic vision.