Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Neutral Nations
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Despite the uproar that has sparked since February 24th, when the Russia-Ukraine crisis erupted and Europe became embroiled in the details of war, there has been a silence from several nations across the world. The most notable of which include India and China- both of whom have yet to speak out on the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
India
As a country with close ties with both the West and Russia, India has been put in a difficult position. Historically, India has taken a passive stance when Russia goes on the military offensive as seen with the Soviet Union’s invasion into Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Afghanistan in 1979 and when Russia invaded Crimea in 2014. Now, similarly in 2022, India attempts to maintain its interests with both sides, and has not yet spoke on the actions of this war or enacted any economic sanctions against Russia. New Delhi’s position is undoubtedly affected by its ties to both the West and Russia, especially with America as the former continues to be India’s largest arms supplier of 49%, and the latter a nation India has strived to build good relations with in recent years. Indeed, India has taken a neutral stance, evidenced by its choice to abstain during the UN General Assembly vote over the crisis in Ukraine and its reiterations that it was “deeply disturbed” over the war and “on the side of peace”. Its political strategy has raised concerns over whether the world’s largest democracy should take a clearer stance, especially as over 20,000 citizens, mostly students, are still stranded in both nations.
China
Similarly to India, China has maintained a neutral position in regards to the war waging in Ukraine and has abstained from the UN Security Council vote condemning the invasion of Ukraine. In fact, the crisis in Ukraine was not referred to as a war or invasion until a few days ago when foreign minister Wang Yi told his French counterpart that they “hope to see fighting and the war stop as soon as possible”. There are several reasons for non-alignment. Firstly, China is Ukraine's number one trading partner, meaning that the maintenance of good relations with Kyiv would be ideal. Secondly, because of China’s relations with Russia, with Putin being one of the only world leaders to attend the Beijing Winter Olympics and Russia’s position as the only friendly country towards China among major powers at a time when a hostile Western bloc is countering China’s rise, meaning that China is unlikely to take further action, let alone abandon Russia.
by Connie Kiew