Ever since Russia began massing troops on the Ukrainian border, the government in Kyiv has been working frenetically to shore up international support. For the most part, it has focused on its partners in Europe and North America. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has met with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He is regularly on the phone with U.S. President Joe Biden. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has conferenced with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and he attended a December NATO ministerial meeting to discuss the Russian buildup. In a December article for Foreign Affairs, Kuleba called on the West to more actively and aggressively support Kyiv.
But on February 3, Kuleba made a blunt appeal to a country in a different part of the world: India. If India told the Kremlin in no uncertain terms that it found Russia’s actions “unacceptable,” this would be a “very strong message of support [for Ukraine] and make an impact,” Kuleba said. There is a reason for his plea. India is an important actor on the world stage, with strong ties to both Moscow and Washington. If it were to criticize Russia, New Delhi would at the very least demonstrate that the crisis worries countries beyond the West. It would signal that India strongly backs democracies and showcase that New Delhi is optimistic about the future of the Indian-U.S. partnership. And it would present a sharp contrast with China, which has been carefully silent about Ukraine.
