Shi Jiangtao

Opinion | Hugs and cringes: China watches as Indian and Russian leaders take their diplomatic dance

Despite warm greetings and ‘no limits’ partnerships, leaders of these powerful countries must navigate constant friction in their dynamic

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin embrace during an informal meeting outside Moscow on Monday. Despite outward displays of affection, tensions persist between the leaders of India, Russia and China. Photo: AP

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 9:00pm, 9 Jul 2024Updated: 12:04am, 10 Jul 2024

In the game of power diplomacy, body language is often more revealing than words. Two photos showing interactions between leaders from Beijing, New Delhi and Moscow have effectively summed up the state of their trilateral relations.

One was Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bear hug with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday during his first visit to Moscow in nearly a decade. The other was taken in Beijing during Putin’s latest China visit in May, when he received a farewell hug from his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

While Modi is famous for his public displays of warmth and “hug diplomacy”, neither Xi nor Putin are known as big fans of physical contact other than shaking hands, which partly explains why they both appeared a bit uncomfortable in the pictures.

That is probably why the photos have hit the international headlines, prompting Washington and its allies to scrutinise the roles Beijing and New Delhi may have played in enabling Putin’s grinding aggression against Ukraine.

When the White House was asked to comment on the Xi-Putin embrace, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said wryly: “Well, that’s nice for them.”