One of the striking developments of the turbulence unleashed in the last six months, has been the revitalisation of the India-Russian relationship. US President Donald Trump is not responsible for all of it, but he has certainly played a leading role in bringing this on.

India-Russia relations have been fairly even in the past decade, and India did not allow its disquiet over the Russia-Ukraine war to affect the relationship. But now, the chill in India-US ties is generating a degree of warmth in our time-tested Russian relationship because the US coolness arises from Washington’s efforts to dent India- Russia ties.

Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode with President Vladimir Putin at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), national security adviser Ajit Doval and external affairs minister S Jaishankar visited Moscow on separate occasions in August. Their primary mission was to set the stage for the 23rd India-Russia annual summit for which Putin plans to travel to New Delhi later this year — the first time since 2021.

All this had nothing to do with the US. But it coincided with a somewhat ham-handed Trump effort to organise a ceasefire and peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Despite bending over backwards to please President Putin, the US failed to work out a deal. In a bid to pressure Moscow, the US targeted Indian purchase of Russian oil.

Of late, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has almost daily made wild........

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