‘India puts its eggs in different baskets’: Russian analyst on how Trump tariff plays into Putin’s hands

In the wake of Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Moscow and meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, a Russian analyst has stated that the US’s traditional India policy of ‘carrot-and-stick’ flopped this time. He added that US President Donald Trump’s 50 per cent tariff policy on India “played into the hands of Russia, bringing India and Russia closer.”

Boris Volkhonsky, associate professor at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University, told Russian media organisation URA.RU that Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with  Jaishankar on Thursday was a response to Trump's tariffs. “Putin has turned the ultimatums of Trump in Russia's favor. The trade war that the United States has unleashed against India is contributing to a closer rapprochement between Moscow and New Delhi,” Volkhonsky said.

The Jaishankar-Putin meeting also comes amid the latter’s planned visit to India before the end of the year. 

Also read: Amid Trump tariffs, Russia woos India; Jaishankar hails 'steadiest' ties since World War II

A day before the meeting, reports said India was resuming the purchase of Russian oil in September-October amid widened discounts. State-run refineries, IOC, and BPCL had halted the purchases due to narrow discounts and after Trump’s tariff threats.

“India is a country that puts its eggs in different baskets. Therefore, it will look at the actions of different  political players. The fact that Trump is flirting with Pakistan in order to tear it away from China has also  caused discontent in New Delhi. The Indians are very jealous of other countries getting closer to Pakistan. This also applies to the United States, which wants to bring Pakistan back into its orbit,”  Volkhonsky explained.

Against this background, Volkhonsky said, Russia and India will continue to draw closer and develop  new mechanisms of interaction. “This extends to not only bilateral relations, but also ties with other countries within the BRICS and SCO, of which both countries are members, since members of these organisations are also subject to pressure from the United States,” he said.

"The hegemony of the West is coming to an end, and it is necessary to develop new mechanisms of  interaction. The US has always used a carrot and stick policy (or, in English, a carrot and a stick) towards India. Now, Trump has tried to use this policy again, but it did not work. And this only brings Russia and India, and India and China, closer together. And it plays into our hands," the political scientist said.

India had stated that Jaishankar and Putin were discussing transport, logistics, banking, and financial partnership that would be immune to external pressures. On its part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the relations between the two countries were among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world since the Second World War. "Geo-political convergence, leadership contacts and popular sentiment remain its key drivers," he said.

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