MILES PARKS, HOST:
Russian President Vladimir Putin was in New Delhi this week for a summit with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. It was Putin's first visit to India since the war in Ukraine started, and the talks come at a time when Washington has been pressuring Indian companies to avoid buying Russian oil if they want to continue doing business in the United States.
In August, President Trump imposed 50% tariffs on most Indian products, arguing that Delhi's purchases of Russian oil have helped fund the war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Modi now faces a tough balancing act between India's strategic ties with Moscow - India's biggest arms supplier - and managing trade tensions with the United States, which is the country's largest commercial partner.
For more on this visit, let's bring in Sumit Ganguly, who leads the Huntington Program on Strengthening U.S.-India Relations at Stanford University. Professor Ganguly, welcome.
SUMIT GANGULY: Thank you for this opportunity.
PARKS: So talk me through a little bit about what Putin's visit to India - what message does this send? What is your takeaway here?
GANGULY: Putin needs India, and India needs Putin, at least at the present moment. Putin is going to India largely because he finds himself isolated in the world, particularly with the Western world. And India, in turn, in large part is acting out of a peak because of the rift that has emerged between India and the United States because of President Trump's draconian tariffs of 50% on India, in part because of India's purchase of Russian oil, and also Trump's irritation that India refused to publicly acknowledge the putative role that Trump played in settling a recent skirmish between India and Pakistan. And India has maintained a stony silence on that subject.
PARKS: It feels like India is trying to balance this relationship between Russia and the United States. That feels like a difficult thing to do. Does India have to pick a side here, or can they keep walking this tightrope?
GANGULY: Well, India is insisting that it can pursue the strategy of what India calls multialignment, that we are not going to be friends with one particular country at the cost of friendship with another. And I'm not sure that India can pursue this indefinitely and particularly since Putin's view of India is entirely transactional.
PARKS: Where do you think the future of the U.S.-India relationship is headed, I guess? Can you forecast it a little bit for us?
GANGULY: The U.S. and India have a viable working relationship now, which has enjoyed bipartisan support over the last two to three decades. The relationship is built upon a significant Indian diaspora in the United States, who have been remarkably successful. Over the last 20 years, India has purchased over $20 billion worth of military equipment. Despite the turbulence and the difficulties it is encountering at the moment because of the differences between Trump and Modi, I do not see this relationship becoming a completely sterile one in the foreseeable future.
PARKS: That's Professor Sumit Ganguly of the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. Thank you so much for talking with us.
GANGULY: Thank you very much.
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