The visible bonhomie between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during their recent summit in India was, in many ways, a "gift from Trump," foreign policy analyst Fareed Zakaria said in an exclusive interview with NDTV. While India and Russia share long-standing ties, Zakaria argued that the relationship has deepened further because the "US had turned its back on India."
Speaking to NDTV's Chief Executive Editor and Editor-in-Chief Rahul Kanwal, Zakaria said the optics of the Modi-Putin meeting mattered as much as the substance. "It was nice for India to be able to show that it had friends, that it had countries that respected it, so it's a gift from Trump," he said.
Putin was in India for a two-day visit from December 4 to 6, during which he held summit-level talks with PM Modi in New Delhi. The visit was aimed at strengthening economic ties, particularly trade, with India as Western sanctions continue to strain Moscow's long-established relationships.
A photograph of PM Modi and Putin taking a 'selfie' during a car ride quickly went viral and unsettled the West. The image was even cited in the US Congress, where Democratic Congresswoman Sydney Kamlager-Dove displayed it during a hearing on US foreign policy.
Kamlager-Dove placed the blame on Washington, arguing that US policies had driven New Delhi closer to Moscow. She said it was the US, not India, that was weakening the bilateral partnership. "Unless he changes course, Trump will be the American president who lost India, or more accurately, who chased India away," she warned.
The friction stems from US President Donald Trump's hardline pressure tactics against India. Earlier this year, the Trump administration imposed steep reciprocal tariffs, including an additional 25 per cent levy specifically targeting India's purchases of Russian oil.
Zakaria also weighed in on the war in Ukraine, claiming that Putin had rejected Trump's proposed peace plan during talks in Alaska. According to Zakaria, Trump's approach was to pressure Ukraine into making sweeping concessions, threatening abandonment if Kyiv refused. Once those concessions were secured, Trump planned to present them to Putin, believing an agreement would end the war and secure him a Nobel Peace Prize.
"Trump got Zelensky to make the concessions; he presented that deal to Putin in Alaska, and he [Putin] said no because he realised he was getting more of what he was asking for, so he upped the demands," Zakaria said.
Putin, meanwhile, has signalled no softening of Russia's position. Speaking on Wednesday at an annual meeting with senior military officials, the Russian president warned that Moscow would seek to expand its gains in Ukraine if Kyiv and its Western allies rejected the Kremlin's terms in peace negotiations.
Putin said Russia would prefer to meet its objectives and "eliminate the root causes of the conflict" through diplomacy but cautioned that "if the opposing side and its foreign patrons refuse to engage in substantive dialogue, Russia will achieve the liberation of its historical lands by military means."
