India's failure to speak out for Ukraine is a massive diplomatic blunder for New Delhi - Russia will not help India as it used to be

When Putin waged a brutal, inhuman invasion of Ukraine on 23 February 2022, it has already reached the boiling temper, as the invasion proved to be far more difficult than expected. Putin's Russian army has suffered consistent tactical and strategical failures to maintain, while troops suffer from low morale due to being deceived and have to fight a war they did not know they would take part. In megalomania and isolation, Putin, the all-time dictator and new Tsar of autocratic Russia, had called for a massive redeployment of nuclear deterrent force on high alert, calling the West "empire of lies" and warned to use nuclear weapons as if it could mean the complete annihilation of a nation - something Putin is not afraid to do given his notorious ruthlessness in Chechnya, Georgia and Syria.

For a dictator that is so embedded with projecting neo-imperialist and fascist-like empire, as well as his eagerness to suffer hardship for long-term imperialist gains, Putin's actions are definitely worth alerting. The United States and its allies have been quick to impose many sanctions and even economic restriction, which severely hurts the tyrant of Russia's ability to control, followed with massive public protests against the war that Putin has tried to conceal from public, a number of nations have offered to step up and facilitate the peace talks to end Putin's aggression - all ended in failure (except for China). India is one of it.

Yet India's failure to help facilitate the talk doesn't appear to bring to the mind of Indian leadership everything. Their inability to address Putin's barbaric and inhuman sentiment from within has been criticised of being far from the reality. As the war has shown no sign of slowing down and Putin intensifying the war by more violent tactics, India needs to address a new reality that it can't reject.

Relations between India and Russia have a special position. India was a non-aligned nation back in the Cold War, but India had developed a close tie with the Soviet Union and, indeed, the Soviets aided India for the 1971 war against Pakistan, which would become a problematic American ally. India has recently improved, if not saying, strengthened ties with the West and is now a member of QUAD, comprising her with Japan, the United States and Australia. This coalition aims against one nation, the growing aggressive China.

India's position is quite unique however. As Pakistan has become increasingly shunned and isolated by Western allies for its role in hosting Bin Laden, Pakistan has turned back to its old friend China. Being surrounded by two enemies, the need to defend itself remains a duty for India. Therefore, it is not hard to understand why India needs Russia. Outside the already recognised more than 160 nuclear ICBMs, experts believe India may actually host 500 others, but this is not confirmed by either Indian or foreign experts.

The ties with Russia also helped India to build its military facilities and equipment. Several new weapons like supersonic missiles BrahMos and recently a number of hypersonic missiles like Shaurya and Akash are also what India got by cooperating with Russia as well as its newfound Western partners. In addition, India also got Putin's assurance that it would remain neutral when it comes to Sino-Indian conflict or Indo-Pakistan conflict.

This relationship is changing, in a less positive manner though. China is growing to become the world's most formidable and with an economic size 5 times larger than that of India alone, China has also smelt the opportunities by trading with Russia and has lured Putin into believing Beijing's interests. New Delhi has watched with disbelief when Russia tacitly backs China in South China Sea's disputes, an exchange for China backing Russia's political interests. While the Russian statement is neutral about Asian affairs, this in turn put India into a dangerous situation. If war between India and China broke out, Russia might tacitly back China.

This is even more concerning for India as its arch-rival Pakistan has made its political ties with Putin, Imran Khan visited Moscow and expressed his happiness to meet Putin in the fact of Putin's imperialist aggression. The Russian dictator has also promised to continue the commitment with Pakistan, which was a major pivot. India later offered support to Russia at the UN, before the invasion derailed everything.

Given the grave danger and the fact that Putin continues to commit with the delusion of "denazification" process, which was nothing more but a flagrant aggression and attempt to destroy a sovereign nation and for the revisionist policies of turning clock left for 100 years before, India's failure to speak for Ukraine is truly threatening in long term. New Delhi must understand that India's concept of "humanism" won't work with an authoritarian partner that has nukes to bomb innocent people freely. India must emphasise this difference between a nation that understands democracy means, and a nation where democracy doesn't even function. The time it relies on Russia must have to end, the country's economic path is, unlike Russia, far brighter and it has less problems than the upcoming alliance of the pariah state of Putin's Russia and its upcoming totalitarian or old allies like China, Pakistan, Belarus, Myanmar, Venezuela, Syria, Serbia and Iran. Just like Putin's Russia, regimes of Belarus, Syria, Iran, Myanmar and Venezuela have shown no respect to the wills of the people - they only want to impose the wills by strength; while China will try to use both military and economic power to exert its desires.

Unfortunately, being a captive of geographical location unfavourable to be reckless, India has been forced to play that role. While people can understand that Indian reactions toward Russia come with no surprise, Putin may look to ditch India for China - in a bid for totalitarianism to rule all the world. And Putin's aggression on Ukraine is just the beginning of the decline of India's position in Putin's eyes.