Indian President Modi in Moscow for first visit since Russia invaded Ukraine (NPR)

MOSCOW Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in Moscow for a two-day visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his first trip to Russia since the Kremlin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago.

Yet there is little to suggest that Modi, the leader of the world’s largest democracy, is considering directly challenging Putin over his actions in Ukraine. Instead, the Indian leader appears to be engaging with Moscow as part of a broader balancing act between East and West that is at the heart of his foreign policy.

Before leaving for Moscow, Modi noted The partnership with Russia has progressed over the past decade and he said he looked forward to reviewing all aspects of bilateral cooperation with his friend Putin.

We seek to play a supportive role for a peaceful and stable region, Modi added, without elaborating.

The Kremlin's statements were equally optimistic, saying that Modi's visit would build on the traditionally friendly relations between Russia and India.

Upon his arrival at Vnukovo airport on Monday afternoon, Modi was greeted by a goose-stepping guard of honour. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who has worked with an Indo-Russian aircraft company in the past, greeted him on the tarmac.

As Modi's motorcade headed to his hotel across from the Kremlin, crowds of supporters gathered to wave Indian and Russian flags.

Among other announced activities: Putin will host Modi for a private dinner with an open agenda for discussion, the Kremlin spokesman said, setting the tone for Tuesday's official talks.

Modi is also expected to lay flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Russia.

The leaders have no plans to speak to the media at this time, the spokesman added.

Cold War Allies

Russia and India have close ties dating back to the height of the Cold War.

In a partnership that often blurred ideological lines, the Soviets supplied arms to India as both countries found a common threat in the rise of their neighbor China.

Today, things have changed a lot: the US is now one of India's main partners and the country's military needs have diversified. Yet Modi's visit to Moscow is partly a product of an enduring Indo-Russian friendship, analysts say.

India has rejected Western pleas, including from Washington, to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Modi preferring to call for a vague diplomatic settlement of the conflict.

The current era is not an era of war, the Indian Prime Minister said. said to Putin during their last meeting on the sidelines of a regional summit in Central Asia in the fall of 2022.

Putin responded by promising Modi that Russia was doing everything to end this situation as quickly as possible.

Nearly two years later, the death toll and destruction in Ukraine continues to rise, with hundreds of thousands dead and no end to the fighting in sight.

Hours before Modi's arrival, Russian rockets struck several cities in Ukraine, killing at least 29 people and wounding dozens more. Among the targets hit was a children's hospital in kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.

The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had carried out precision attacks on military installations.

Meanwhile, New Delhi is increasingly alarmed by Western sanctions that have pushed Russia into the arms of India's main regional rival, China, according to regional exports.

India has not condemned the Russian invasion, but that doesn't mean it supports the war, Michael Kugelman, director of the Wilson Center for South Asia, told NPR late last year. It doesn't support the war at all. The war makes Russia more dependent on China, and India doesn't want that because China is its strategic competitor.

The economic ties that unite

To further complicate matters, New Delhi has also benefited from purchases of Russian oil at deep discounts after the United States and its allies imposed sanctions on Russian crude.

Meanwhile, easing trade access between Russia and India and correcting a massive trade imbalance caused by Russian oil exports appear to be at the heart of this week's discussions.

One of the main topics to be discussed will be the development of alternative money transfer systems, such as a Russian-Indian version of Paypal, Zelle or Venmo, as a workaround for Western sanctions that have removed most Russian banks from the global SWIFT payments system.

Ahead of Modi's visit, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said the talks would also focus on the release of 30-40 Indians who were lured into military service in Russia with promises of mercenary pay.

Different visions of a multipolar world

In Moscow, Modi's arrival is seen as the latest evidence of the West's failure to isolate Russia in the face of its invasion of its neighbor. Shortly before Modi's visit, Putin hosted Hungarian Prime MinisterViktor Orban in Moscow and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and a host of other leaders at a Eurasian regional summit in Kazakhstan.

The Indian prime minister's visit, which partly coincides with this week's NATO summit in Washington, DC, provides another opportunity for Putin to hail Russia's membership in non-Western clubs such as the BRICS group of advanced developing countries and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, among others.

Putin has presented these organizations as evidence of a new multipolar world order emerging from what he says is the moral rot and economic decline of the West.

Modi, too, has welcomed India's rise in a new multipolar reality. But he has had to seek to maintain good relations with Western economies, with which New Delhi does much of its business.