What a difference a few months makes. The last time Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump met at the White House in February, the two countries were riding high.

"We missed you; we missed you a lot," Trump said after receiving one of Modi's signature full-body bear hugs. He spoke of the "special bond" their countries share, and signed agreements to "deepen every aspect of our partnership and our friendship".

Trump's frustration with Modi over Russia ties misses the memo

By Karishma Vyas

Just seven months on, this partnership has plunged to its lowest point in more than 25 years. There is no simple explanation, but publicly at least the US is pointing the finger at Russia.

In July the Trump administration accused India of helping Moscow fund its war on Ukraine through its purchase of discounted Russian crude oil. It made up less than 2 per cent of India's total oil imports before the war, but by June 2024 it had jumped to 44 per cent.

Trade adviser Peter Navarro in August said that New Delhi was financing the Kremlin's "war machine", even calling the Russia-Ukraine conflict "Modi's war".

When Modi refused to capitulate to American demands to stop its oil trade with Russia, the US slapped 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports starting August 27, and last month it radically increased the cost of H-1B visa applications which overwhelmingly impact Indian citizens.

"Either support the dollar, support the United States of America, support your biggest client, who's the American consumer, or, I guess you're going to pay a 50 per cent tariff. And let's see how long this lasts," said US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Despite the escalating stakes, India has doubled down on its "time-tested" relationship with Russia, which stretches back more than seven decades but is not widely understood.

The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1947 just before India gained independence from British rule. As the fledgling democracy struggled with economic and geopolitical crisis, it was the Soviet Union that stepped forward to provide investment in mining, energy and steel production.

On the international stage, the USSR mediated a peace treaty to end the 1965 war between India and Pakistan, and provided diplomatic backing to India during the 1971 war with its nuclear-armed neighbour. The US and China sided with Islamabad, a choice not forgotten by Indian leaders.

"There is this historical memory which is really embedded within the generation that is now in power, both in Russia and India," said Aleksei Zakharov, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation thinktank in New Delhi.

"They still remember those times when both countries were perceived super positively, like, true friends."

At the core of this enduring friendship is military hardware.

Since its birth, India has been fending off border disputes with Pakistan to its west and China to its north-east. Seizing the opportunity, Russia has become its largest arms dealer, selling at affordable prices without end user restrictions.

Moscow has been equally open to sharing sensitive defence technology, and allowing India to use it to manufacture equipment within its borders. Since the late 1990s, there has been joint production of several weapons, including the Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles and the Brahmos supersonic cruise missile.

Russia gave India the license to use their technology, and India manufactured the weapons domestically, like the Su-30s fighter jets.

By comparison, the US slapped sanctions on India after it conducted a nuclear test in 1998, viewed by many in New Delhi as an attempt to constrain India's defence capabilities.

"In some ways, the Soviet Union and Russia were more open to sharing their technologies, to sharing licences for production, and sharing really state-of-the-art equipment that it developed, unlike other Indian partners," Zakharov said.

"Many Soviet origin and Russian origin tanks are produced in India on a licence, so the technology is Russian, but it's produced in India as Indian equipment. Or fighter jets like Su-30s.

"Russia is the only country to provide India with a nuclear submarine, for instance … That's why when it comes to difficult situations, I think both sides take stock of the relationship, of the history of their ties and realise that they are somehow bound together."

The India-Russia partnership is not without its bumps. Their weapons trade has been plagued by quality concerns, delays and exceeding costs, with India now pushing to expand its own military production. The two countries haven't signed a new arms sale deal since 2021.

Modi also hasn't publicly supported Russia's war on Ukraine. In fact, he cancelled or suspended several arms agreements, including for 49 new Mi-17 helicopters and the modernisation of 85 Su-30MKI fighters, less for humanitarian reasons than concerns over quality and delivery timelines because of the war.

Herein lies the true principle that steers India's relationship with any foreign power. Regardless of its historical defence ties to Russia, or its economic reliance on the US, India is politically non-monogamous.

"India's belief in strategic autonomy and multi alignment, is a sacrosanct part of India's foreign policy, of not being dependent on one power," Zakharov said.

"It has never chosen to join one partner and turn its back on the other. It has been navigating between them, and I think that in the current geopolitical environment this approach has been quite wise."

This principle is hardly a secret. Yet, by forcing India to pick a side, the Trump administration seems to have missed this memo.

"It's particularly striking given that the United States has one of the best expertise on India in the world. But apparently the current administration does not rely much on this expertise, and they are proceeding based on their own understanding of how policies should be done," Zakharov said.

"It's counterproductive in terms of soft power and in terms of promoting the US image abroad in general."

The US is unlikely to wise up to the nuances of Indian foreign policy any time soon, so it is left to Modi to navigate this diplomatic minefield.

Last month at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in China we got a glimpse of how he plans to do that.

He greeted President Vladimir Putin with a bear hug.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-12/india-united-states-russia-modi-trump-putin/105830580

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

SEE ALSO: guilty trump....