Tangled webs, already woven

benfell

India weaves a tangled web in response to Western pressure to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[1] But then, its boundary disputes with Pakistan and China are also complex, encompassing significant amounts of territory (figure 1).

Fig. 1. “Composite map showing the borders of India, Pakistan & China as per official sources overlaid on areas of actual administrative control. Areas where official borders intersect are disputed areas administered by one country and claimed by another country. Each disputed region is indicated by a circle representative of its area with the color of the administering country and outlined by the color of the claimant country.” By Planemad [pseud.], August 23, 2011, on Wikimedia Commons. CC-by-sa Arun Ganesh, National Institute of Design Bangalore.

India exacerbated its already nuclear-armed dispute with Pakistan by revoking the “special status” of predominantly Muslim Kashmir, much of which is claimed by Pakistan.[2]

India wants to be strong friends with the “liberal world” but it needs Russia’s assistance to defend its borders, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told Bloomberg in an interview in Washington.[3]

I’ll leave alone that India is hardly a “liberal democracy” itself, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in firm control of the government and intensifying longstanding repression of the Muslim minority by authoritarian means,[4] including by imposing direct rule on Kashmir.[5] We might note that with its declared—and even more expansive undeclared[6]—territorial ambitions, India seeks to repress more Muslims.

Let’s remember that China and Russia are allies, and China clearly sympathizes with Russia and supports the Ukraine invasion in propaganda,[7] though China denies aiding Russia economically or militarily with its invasion[8] and I have seen nothing tangible that suggests it has done so.

If India continues to buy Russian arms,[9] it will surely eventually run afoul of economic sanctions against Russia, effectively siding with Russia. This, we are to understand, for a counterweight against China[10] that seems exceedingly unlikely to materialize in practice.
Greater Hindustan
Fig. 2: Greater Hindustan, shaded orange by author, May, 2011, based on Angana Chatterji's description in Violent Gods.[11] I am uncertain where I found the base map; it may have been the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Fact Book, and thus in the public domain.

I have to suspect, however, that that isn’t really India’s motivation. The right-wing Hindutva ideology that enables the BJP lays claim to much of southern Asia, including Tibet (figure 2).[12] India’s politicians may well feel an affinity for historical empires and authoritarian means, making it, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to have observed,[13] an unlikely partner in resistance to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

  1. [1]Reuters, “India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, finance minister tells Bloomberg,” April 23, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-be-friends-with-west-needs-russian-help-defend-borders-says-finmin-2022-04-23/↩
  2. [2]Diaa Hadid, Scott Neuman, and Abdul Sattar, “Pakistan Warns Of War After India’s Move To End Kashmir’s Special Status,” National Public Radio, August 7, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/748957876/pakistan-warns-indias-move-to-end-kashmir-s-special-status-could-lead-to-war; Niharika Mandhana, “Kashmir Seethes Under Indian Security Clampdown,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/kashmir-seethes-under-indian-security-clampdown-11565899945; Niha Masih, “India revokes special status of Kashmir, putting tense region on edge,” Washington Post, August 5, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/india-revokes-special-status-of-kashmir-putting-tense-region-on-edge/2019/08/05/2232fcd0-b740-11e9-8e83-4e6687e99814_story.html; Zeba Siddiqui and Fayaz Bukhari, “Besieged Kashmiri neighborhood in test of wills with India’s Modi,” Reuters, August 19, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-hotbed-insight/besieged-kashmiri-neighborhood-in-test-of-wills-with-indias-modi-idUSKCN1V921T↩
  3. [3]Reuters, “India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, finance minister tells Bloomberg,” April 23, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-be-friends-with-west-needs-russian-help-defend-borders-says-finmin-2022-04-23/↩
  4. [4]Angana P. Chatterji, Violent Gods (Gurgaon, Haryana, India: Three Essays Collective, 2009); Sadanand Dhume, “Hindus Take a Muslim Site. What’s Next?” Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/hindus-take-a-muslim-site-is-the-taj-mahal-next-11573775903; Arundhati Roy Field Notes on Democracy (Chicago: Haymarket, 2009).↩
  5. [5]Diaa Hadid, Scott Neuman, and Abdul Sattar, “Pakistan Warns Of War After India’s Move To End Kashmir’s Special Status,” National Public Radio, August 7, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/08/07/748957876/pakistan-warns-indias-move-to-end-kashmir-s-special-status-could-lead-to-war; Niharika Mandhana, “Kashmir Seethes Under Indian Security Clampdown,” Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/kashmir-seethes-under-indian-security-clampdown-11565899945; Niha Masih, “India revokes special status of Kashmir, putting tense region on edge,” Washington Post, August 5, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/india-revokes-special-status-of-kashmir-putting-tense-region-on-edge/2019/08/05/2232fcd0-b740-11e9-8e83-4e6687e99814_story.html; Zeba Siddiqui and Fayaz Bukhari, “Besieged Kashmiri neighborhood in test of wills with India’s Modi,” Reuters, August 19, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-hotbed-insight/besieged-kashmiri-neighborhood-in-test-of-wills-with-indias-modi-idUSKCN1V921T↩
  6. [6]Angana P. Chatterji, Violent Gods (Gurgaon, Haryana, India: Three Essays Collective, 2009).↩
  7. [7]Rodion Ebbighausen, “Why China thinks the West is to blame for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” Deutschewelle, March 14, 2022, https://www.dw.com/en/why-china-thinks-the-west-is-to-blame-for-russias-war-in-ukraine/a-61119517; Robert Mendick, Nataliya Vasilyeva, and Nick Allen, “China ‘willing to supply Russia’ with weapons and military support,” Telegraph, March 14, 2022, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/14/china-willing-supply-russia-weapons-military-support/; Ashley Parker et al., “U.S. warns China not to assist Russia,” Washington Post, March 15, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/14/us-china-ukraine/; Edward Wong and Julian E. Barnes, “Russia Asked China for Military and Economic Aid for Ukraine War, U.S. Officials Say,” New York Times, March 13, 2022, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/13/us/politics/russia-china-ukraine.html↩
  8. [8]Associated Press, “China Says it’s ‘Impartial’ on Ukraine, Denies Aiding Russia,” Military.com, March 15, 2022, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2022/03/15/china-says-its-impartial-ukraine-denies-aiding-russia.html↩
  9. [9]Reuters, “India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, finance minister tells Bloomberg,” April 23, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-be-friends-with-west-needs-russian-help-defend-borders-says-finmin-2022-04-23/↩
  10. [10]Reuters, “India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, finance minister tells Bloomberg,” April 23, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-be-friends-with-west-needs-russian-help-defend-borders-says-finmin-2022-04-23/↩
  11. [11]Angana P. Chatterji, Violent Gods (Gurgaon, Haryana, India: Three Essays Collective, 2009).↩
  12. [12]Angana P. Chatterji, Violent Gods (Gurgaon, Haryana, India: Three Essays Collective, 2009).↩
  13. [13]Reuters, “India wants to be friends with West but needs Russian help to defend borders, finance minister tells Bloomberg,” April 23, 2022, https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-wants-be-friends-with-west-needs-russian-help-defend-borders-says-finmin-2022-04-23/↩