Just hours after a Russian attack in Ukraine killed at least 41 people—including at a children’s hospital—and sparked a worldwide uproar, Mr. Modi touched down on Monday.
Images from Moscow showed Mr. Modi, grinning, giving the Russian president a hug. In a video that has gone viral in India, a grinning Vladimir Putin refers to Prime Minister Modi as “my dearest friend” and says he is “delighted to see him”.
The 2022 invasion will be a prominent topic of discussion at the NATO meeting in Washington, which falls on the same day as Mr. Modi’s two-day visit—his first to the Kremlin since 2019—to attend.
India, a significant global economy with close ties to both the US and Russia, is downplaying concerns over the timing of Mr. Modi’s visit with its allies and officials in Delhi. They claim that the yearly summit is unrelated to the NATO summit and is a component of a long-standing strategic alliance.
However, a bad note has been struck, with the US voicing worries. A spokesperson for the State Department, Matthew Miller, counseled Mr. Modi to emphasize the territorial integrity of Ukraine during his negotiations in Moscow.
