The state visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to India drew heightened international attention, which gave it the colouring of a geopolitical event. Three European ambassadors assigned to Delhi from France, Germany and the UK even resorted to pamphleteering to smear Russia, compelling a rare rebuke by the government. In the event, though, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Putin kept the focus on the bilateral content, with a long-term perspective.

Although the presence of the ghost at the banquet would have been on their minds, neither Modi nor Putin showed any signs of it. In fact, Putin embarked on the journey to Delhi right after his momentous 5-hour negotiations in the Kremlin with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, which have he

See Full Page