A TV channel could have the potential of destroying the Indo-Russian relations. And it can happen sooner or later

When a TV channel revealed the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko's military and tactical plan to conquer Moldova, by blunder, the news shocked international community and showed the true extent of Putin's grand ambition. The Russian dictator's megalomania about imperialist conquest for the restoration of his Russian Empire, and the fact that he was targeting Moldova, a former Soviet state, could be seen as a reason why the Eastern European country immediately requested joining the European Union. This advantage Putin aimed to catch on while invading Ukraine, was lost.

But that channel is not a normal channel. It's the country where it is stationed that matters the most for us. That channel is WION, an Indian right-wing TV channel recently accumulated a lot of watchers. So, how that channel comes to life, and, if anything, how would this channel play any major role in disrupting or, potentially, ruining the relationship between Russia and India?

Establishment

WION found its historical root in a rather interesting way. The channel was founded on June 2016 as a free-to-air website, before its official broadcasting live began two months later. India has a recent, but stable history of developing moderate privatised TV channels since its economic liberalisation in 1991, but almost every Indian news outlets are not internationally broadcasted, but only serving domestic audience. Of course, various international media outlets also operate in India, such as CNN and BBC.

Still, many Indians were not happy with foreign media's portrayal of India and they argued India must find a private channel that can truly represent the image of India to the world. Under the ambitious Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who replaced the reformist Manmohan Singh in 2014, the desire to bring a better international image for India saw Modi launched a "Make in India" program and subsequently, a massive economic boom. This also increased India's standing and in the end, it found the opportunities from growing profile. The Essel Group, a major Indian conglomerate, began working since 2015 to establish a global TV channel, which was materialised a year later.

WION, a subsidy of Mumbai-based Zee News, owned by the same company, was tasked with the job - to bring Indian perspective to the world. WION in English stands for World is One News.

The coronavirus boom

The channel only began to amass more fan base, though, when it got coverage of China since 2020. Because of its stance being fiercely anti-Beijing and condemning Chinese government's attempt of censoring the coronavirus investigation, the channel became the welcoming hotspot. Although criticism exists about the potential conspiracy theories included in the channel, China's disinformation campaign has guaranteed its growing popularity.

Of course, the channel had not taken Russia into the list yet, because of its main source of hostilities is China. In fact, the second country that is poised to welcome the unhappy satire criticism is not Russia - it is rather the United States, though the scale was never as big as against China. Relations between the United States and India have improved, but it has never been easy enough, due to previous American support for Pakistan in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War, and American sanctions on India for the 1998 nuclear test. India currently holds a verified 150 nukes, although it is estimated to keep over 500 others. India only began to improve ties with America when the September 11 occurred. Henceforth, its coverage toward Russia had yet to be so antagonistic.

The fateful change

On the day of 23 February 2022, shortly after the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, Putin announced the so-called Special Military Operation - and it quickly became a military invasion of Ukraine in full-scale. The Indian channel was quick to frame the operation as an invasion and, while critical of Zelensky, it had provided a very negative coverage against Putin's Russia. Of course, the Russian dictator was preoccupied by growing dissent and media censorship, so he didn't pay attention to the Indian channel. Sanctions and financial isolation cut off Russia severely and many international brands have been deserted the country, forcing Putin to find only a few number of powerful friends in Asia like China and India, since Africa and Latin America are incapable of playing any major role. The former has shown a great willingness, lifting almost every trade restriction and even accepting wheat import; while the latter is trying to balance between Russia and the United States, considering India is also part of the QUAD (alongside the U.S., Japan and Australia) to counter China, an ally of Putin's Russia.

Problem is, WION's stance has complicated much of the Indo-Russian ties. WION's response is not alone in India, as many of the country's outlets have underlined this as a clear act of unprovoked invasion Russia committed against a sovereign state, and of course, WION can claim it is a private TV channel. But WION's right-wing sentiment shares much in common with Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party government, thus it unofficially echoes what Modi might actually think about Putin. India may have cultivated good old alliance with Moscow since the Soviet era (although it was officially neutral), but Modi and Putin have gone two different paths. Narendra Modi is running an India with a massive economy that has grown rapidly since 1991 and its political clout has increased, with India expanding greater ties with the West and reputation rising. Vladimir Putin-controlled Russia is an authoritarian petrostate with disinformation, lies and propaganda sustaining, a brutal military war machine with nukes, a population that is growing rapidly since 2010s but deceived as declining to tell how "civilised" Russia is, to conceal Russia's widespread poverty and corruption. In the way, Russia and India are two civilisations but with two completely different mindset that oddly bound together.

Of course, differences between friends can be settled when they have something in commons, to depth. However, Russia and India share nothing common from the depth. On the surface, Moscow and New Delhi have agreed about military cooperation, and they do not like American and Western hypocrisies. Indians are also permitted to study and work in Russia. On the bottom, however, Putin advocates a neo-imperialist adventure with a clear agenda, and thus he could not befriend with India, a pacifist giant. Hence, Putin unsurprisingly emphasised closer ties with China, in particular under Xi Jinping, a man with a similar neo-imperialist dream, as well as a number of rouge states like Myanmar, Venezuela, Belarus, Serbia, Nicaragua, Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, Cuba and Syria. India, despite its unhappiness with the West, still understands that siding with Russia and China will bring only harm and destruction before it ultimately arrives to India's doorstep. Moreover, why would Indians accept losing its freedom when it is something that enshrined in Indian civilisation since antiquity?

Therefore, despite Putin's growing desperation of getting India and China on his side as part of his gamble to deal against the Atlanticists, as his favourite teacher Alexander Dugin taught him, in the end, New Delhi may not want to have Putin on his side.

A dark conclusion

Not shocking, there is a massive call in India demanding the government to take action immediately and to drift away from Russia as soon as possible. WION is making a favour: by actively siding with Ukraine while winning favour of the Indian right-wing BJP government, New Delhi has begun to understand the true nature of the Putin's regime.

But WION's reports may not be shelled forever as the channel's profile keeps rising for its sympathetic pro-Ukrainian perspective. Once Vladimir Putin became aware of how Indian media like WION and inner officials within the Indian government see him, he will be more emboldened to encourage China to invade India as a term of punishment for "betrayal". China is having territorial conflicts with India over Kashmir's Aksai Chin, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh/South Tibet, and Beijing will do everything to reclaim these lands, even by violence. Xi Jinping and Putin has already unveiled an alliance with "no limit", and India can't relax.

To be honest, a dangerous time is waiting New Delhi ahead. Three of its fellow QUAD brethren, Japan, Australia and the United States, have taken tough measures to sanction and restrict Russia. Meanwhile, Putin's troops are killing civilians, including Indian students, in Ukraine.

His ruthlessness is inspiring his allies everywhere to follow the same pattern. And in my meaning, these allies are countries that share a similar disregard of human and animal's lives, something India abhors deeply. WION, as much as it is controversially right-wing, can also represent a good answer for New Delhi - do not trust the Putinist government - this is the truth they must be informed soon.