Modi's Ukraine visit will "make amends" & will be "a rebalancing" with the West; "bear hug" with Putin was "a setback . most unfortunately badly timed"; "Biden is rethinking some of his enthusiasm to India": Shashi Tharoor

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In an interview to discuss a visit to Ukraine in August which Prime Minister Modi is reported to be considering, Shashi Tharoor has said it would “make amends” and be “a rebalancing” for Modi’s visit to Moscow three weeks ago. Mr. Tharoor described Mr. Modi’s “bear hug” with Vladimir Putin as “a setback” adding it was “most unfortunately badly timed”. Mr. Tharoor said the bear hug, which coincided with a major NATO Summit in Washington and a Russian attack on a children’s hospital in Ukraine which killed 37, gave the wrong impression to the Western world. He said the same about a phrase in the IndoRussian joint statement which spoke about the war “around Ukraine” rather than in Ukraine. He suggested that a visit to Ukraine would make amends for both.



In a 25minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Shashi Tharoor, a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, a former Under Secretary General of the UN and a four time Congress MP, said “(President) Biden is rethinking some of his enthusiasm to India” and the message being conveyed by the US is “we have other partners in Asia”. Therefore, Mr. Tharoor said “tough conversations from Washington are not entirely surprising”.



Mr. Tharoor said so far Washington has been “indulgent” of India’s increasing reliance on Russian oil and, although not happy with Delhi’s refusal to criticize Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, has sought to treat this as an irritant and not allowed it to damage relations.



But, at the same time, Mr. Tharoor added there are signs that Biden could be “rethinking some of his enthusiasm to India”. In the interview Mr. Tharoor lists the reasons which lead him to this conclusion.



Mr. Tharoor said its possible that “Moscow will be miffed” by Prime Minster Modi’s Ukraine visit. There is, therefore, a danger that India could end up “caught between two stools”.



I am only giving you the big broad points made by Mr. Tharoor. This is not a precis or paraphrase of the interview. There is a lot more in the interview which you should see for yourself. I am simply recounting from memory the headline points he has made. I strongly recommend you see the full interview to understand the context as well as the details with which Mr. Tharoor has spoken.




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