Janis Lazda was a policy advisor in the White House and U.S. Senate.
Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive against Russian forces continues to surprise and impress. It surprises for the military’s ability to emerge from six years of grinding war as a force that’s agile, strategic and lethal. And it has impressed with how it’s been able counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s propaganda machine, Russia’s brutal attacks on civilians, and has rallied the United States and Western allies to arm, train and plan.
Most notably, all of this has been achieved in service of principles nearly forgotten in our divisive era — unity and patriotism over division and cynicism, democracy over despotism, national self-determination over imperialism.
But while we cautiously applaud Ukraine’s success and resistance, we can easily forget Russia’s steadfast allies — allies who stand with Moscow’s objectives and, therefore, against the principles for which Ukraine and its partners are fighting.
Who are they? The usual suspects, of course. Belarus, China, Iran, and North Korea. But oddly, also India — and looking at the principles at stake in this war, this pairing makes little sense.
India itself was a colony just 75 years ago, yet it’s now standing on the side of Putin’s “Pan-Slavic,” neo-imperialist ambitions to swallow an independent nation state. Similarly, post-colonial India chose not to join the United Kingdom and its allies following World War II, instead setting its own “non-aligned” course, beholden to no superpower. Today, however, the country is unsympathetic to Ukraine’s determination to be free of imperialism and ally with the European Union and NATO. Finally, as the country that Prime Minister Nerendra Modi proudly calls the “mother of all democracies,” India is somehow siding not with democratic Ukraine, but rather a despot who relies on sham elections and referendums, violence, and propaganda to stay in power.
And India hasn’t just dumped its principles in this conflict, it’s also providing crucial financial support for Russia’s brutal invasion and occupation of Ukraine.
Despite U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia’s economy and hasten the war’s end, India has chosen to increase imports of Russian oil ten-fold, while increasing that of fertilizer eight-fold. Together with China, Indian purchases of Russian goods have largely negated the effect of transatlantic energy sanctions, and India further funds Russia’s war machine by purchasing big-ticket items, such as submarines, tanks, fighter aircraft and surface-to-air missile systems — a full half of the country’s arms imports come from Russia.
So, is this still the country of Gandhi?
Supporters who point to Modi’s statement that “today’s era is not an era of war” might say yes. But what that means in reality is wholly unclear to the residents of Bucha and Irpin.
Meanwhile, Modi’s promise that “India is on the side of peace and will remain firmly there” is just as empty. How can one prop up this war’s undisputed aggressor, while claiming to be on “the side of peace?”
And more importantly, desirable as it may sound, in this conflict, peace is cheap and could be easily achieved — Ukraine must only concede defeat for peace. Instead, freedom is the goal, and for that, the price is high. As long as India, China and others continue to play their current roles, that price will continue to rise for Ukraine, the U.S. and its European allies.
There’s no doubt that a new chapter of history is being written in Eastern Europe today. The Ukrainian nation, its leaders and its allies will likely be cast as valiant, maybe even victorious. But whether India can recast itself as something other than Putin’s enabler remains an open question.
