Behind the broad calls for a multipolar world, President Vladimir Putin’s pre-summit statements can be seen as a piece of calculated diplomacy aimed at splitting India from its Western partners. The scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a key opportunity to advance this goal.
Putin’s rhetoric is carefully tailored to appeal to India’s long-standing policy of strategic autonomy. His critique of “discriminatory sanctions” and a Western-dominated world order resonates with India’s own desire to be recognized as an independent global power.
By emphasizing the shared BRICS platform, Putin reminds India that its primary identity is as a leading emerging nation, alongside Russia and China, rather than as a junior partner to the West. He presents the Russia-China model of de-dollarized trade as a path to the greater economic sovereignty that India also seeks.
While a full-scale break is unlikely, Putin’s goal in his meeting with Modi will be to create greater divergence between New Delhi and Washington. By highlighting the benefits of Eurasian integration and the costs of a unipolar world, he hopes to persuade India to lean more decisively towards the vision he is promoting at the SCO.