Ukraine War...

integrity and national sovereignty [as has China, Russia’s other partner]. However, Prof. Jacob points to a completely new dimension of India’s foreign and national security policy. It is innovative and a trail-blazer in academic circles.

He argues in a fresh and unprecedented manner that “India is not backing Russia’s invasion, nor is it simply

balancing between two major powers. Instead, a subtle but major shift is underway: India’s slow but inevitable decoupling from Russia.”

The seeds of such a reorientation may have been laid earlier, but the Ukraine War has accelerated it.

For the time being, Russia remains an important source of both military equipment and energy for India. However, India has already started to reduce its dependency on Moscow.

Three developments have influenced the new reality. First, the deeply entrenched anti-Americanism among India’s political classes – dating from the days of the Cold War – is disappearing. Second, in a meeting of minds with the U.S., the rise of China is now perceived in Indian intellectual circles as an existential threat to national security.

Third, Russia growing international isolation and proximity eroding. After all, according to the ancient Indian strategic thinker Chanyakya, the friend of an enemy can only be a foe at heart!

The highpoint in the developing Indo-Russian rupture came at the September summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly chastised Putin, telling him: “Today’s era is not the era for war”. Prof. Jacob concludes that larger geopolitical pressures will invariably drive India and Russia apart. Indo-Russian eternal friendship, like the erstwhile Sino-Soviet never-ending Communist brotherhood, is no longer sacrosanct.