What Bold Signals Did PM Modi Send from His Russia and Austria Visits? Understanding India’s New Global Stance!

PM Modi Russia Visit: After becoming the Prime Minister for the third time, Narendra Modi is currently on a foreign tour. Immediately after taking oath, he went to the G-7 countries meeting. Currently, he is on a tour of Austria along with Russia. After nearly four decades, an Indian Prime Minister has gone on a tour of Austria. It is quite natural for the Prime Minister of India to go to Russia, rather it would not be wrong to say that there was a slight tension in the last few months.

However, that tension did not cast any bad shadow on the relations. If we turn the pages of history, then in 1971 the Treaty of International Cooperation of Friendship was signed by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the PM of Moscow. Since that time, India has had a very strong relationship with Russia.

India-Russia friendship is old

Due to India’s close relationship with Russia, it was seen as a satellite country by the US and Western countries. Russia has been a country that has provided military assistance, nuclear cooperation and military equipment and technology to India.

After the Cold War and after Narendra Modi came to the Centre, relations between Russia and India have improved. If we look at the situation of the war between Russia and Ukraine, then India’s situation has become like walking on a tightrope in this matter.

India kept the US happy by introducing its balanced foreign policy and also maintained its friendship with Russia by not calling the situation of attacking Ukraine bad. Right now Narendra Modi is in Russia, so there are many issues for him to discuss.

Especially, when Modi will have a personal meeting with Putin, then from global politics to domestic matters will be on the menu. In this sequence, the Ukraine war can also be discussed in Russia, in which India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has already said that Ukraine and Russia can move forward together only through negotiation and diplomacy.

Narendra Modi can also repeat the same thing during the talks in Russia. Discussion on INSTCA i.e. International North and South Transport Corridor is also necessary, which will touch Iran as well as Russia. Its strategic dimensions will also be seen.

Counter terrorism can also be discussed. Energy trade and investment in it can also be discussed. The big thing in this is that there is no talk on any issue related to defense but only on general trading and talks about trade are being expressed. 

The rise of the far right in Europe

In Europe, the right wing is coming forward with more vigour. In France, Emmanuel Macron is in trouble. The election results in France show that the lead that the right wing had in the first round has been taken over by the left wing in the second round, but today, on Monday 8 June, when France is grappling with riots, Macron will have to think about that too.

His inclination towards the centre and the left has also been seen. The way the right wing has won in the Union and the Commission, due to this Emmanuel Macron has no other option left. That is why he has had to announce elections. Marine Le Pen, who is a right wing leader in France, has been working hard for a long time.

In every election in the past, the right wing has been quite successful in increasing the percentage of votes. At present, it is believed that Marine Le Pen will emerge as the President of France or a big supreme leader. In Italy, the right winger Melina is in power, the rise of the right wing is also visible in the Netherlands. 

Colonial global responsibility

The whole of Europe, or rather the world, is tired of colonial global responsibility. People have started thinking about it. In Austria, Germany and Italy, people from Africa, Iraq and Syria who are coming here to take refuge after being troubled by terrorism are now being questioned.

The question being asked is why are they keeping their doors open? A lot of money of that country is also spent on this. Such a concept has now been formed among the European people. Along with this, European people are not able to work hard, whereas the refugees who have come here work hard and come ahead. Along with this, crime has also increased a lot.

People who come from North Africa have been seen to be very active in supplying weapons and drugs. Due to all these things, right-wing ideology has come to the fore there. Due to this, right-wing leaders are winning in many countries. 

Historical tour of Austria

There has been a significant change in India’s foreign policy since 2014. India, which used to only react earlier, now goes beyond and intervenes on the global stage. Although India has always believed in non-alignment as a principle, now it believes in one-to-one relations, gives priority only to its own interests and we have seen all this in the case of Russia.

Modi is focusing on Europe this time and this is the reason why an Indian Prime Minister has gone to Austria after four decades. India was lagging behind in the cooperation of South Korea, Philippines and Australia, and New Zealand and Japan in the group of Quad countries. India was not able to express its views strongly in this.

India was afraid of the apprehension that some incidents would happen in the areas adjacent to China and China could do some action in the areas adjacent to India. Whereas India should speak openly on other issues including South China Sea and counter terrorism. If the PM says these things after going to Austria, then this step will be right.

India has to come a long way as a strong nation. The kind of aggression shown by Narendra Modi after 2014 has also improved the foreign policy a lot. Some people who had gone to Russia due to bad economic conditions in India have been lured and deployed by the Russian army in the war in Ukraine. India can talk on this issue and free them from this and ask for their return to the country.