The most revealing thing about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest meeting with President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi may be what was left unsaid. Barely two weeks earlier, in Bishkek, Modi had delivered an unusually direct message to the Russian president. The world, he said, needed to move from an “endless war” to the “end of the war”. India supported every effort to bring the fighting in Ukraine to an end.

Putin listened and responded courteously, but gave no indication that Russia was changing course. In Delhi, the language was more carefully calibrated. The Indian readout referred to the conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea, their impact on maritime trade and the safety of Indian seafarers. Modi reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy were the way forward and that India was ready to assist peace efforts. Ukraine itself was not named. The pattern is revealing. India can speak to Putin more easily than most major powers can. It can raise difficult questions without turning every disagreement into a public confrontation. But access is not the same as leverage.

This was already evident in Bishkek. Modi’s appeal was explicit;........

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