Why Russia happy with India is now angry with Indian media

Russia has welcomed the stand of the Indian government so far regarding Russia's attack on Ukraine but is angry with India's media.

Russia had welcomed India's stand on eastern Ukraine at the UN Security Council. Russia's acting ambassador to India, Roman Babushkin, told The Hindu that India's response to eastern Ukraine has been completely independent.

Roman Babushkin told The Hindu on 24 February, "Russia welcomes India's stand on Ukraine. India, as a global power has at times, held a balanced and independent view of Ukraine. Both the countries have talked about the situation there many times at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

"We have talked about it in the United Nations as well. India has a good understanding of things and knows why President Putin has made this announcement. Russia hopes that its friends and partners, including India, will recognize the new republics of "Donetsk and Luhansk".

But on the other hand, Russia is very angry with India's media. The Russian Embassy in India has said that the media of India should give accurate and objective information to the people of India regarding the Ukraine crisis.

Russian embassy statement

The Russian embassy has said in its statement that 'Russia has not waged war against Ukraine and its people but has launched a special military operation and its goal is to end Nazism in addition to demilitarization in Ukraine. Its goal is to end the eight-year-old Ukrainian war in the Donbas (East Ukraine) region.

The Russian embassy wrote, "The Russian military is exercising maximum restraint. It is not targeting civilians and cities. The Russian army is only targeting military bases. Our army does not use banned weapons like the Ukrainian army, nor does it advance people in the form of human shields. We also treat prisoners of war with respect.

The Russian embassy objected to the report of the Indian media, writing, "Russia has always been ready for dialogue. Nuclear bases in Ukraine are safe. This has also been confirmed by the IAEA. On the contrary, any information is biased and misleading.

'Russian side only acceptable'

Tanvi Madan, the Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, objected to the direction of the Russian Embassy to the Indian media, writing, "The Russian Embassy has once again tried to convey to the Indian media like China that it has to be given the Russian side. The report itself is acceptable. If Indian media does not do this then it is biased.

For the second time in a month, Russia has expressed displeasure with the Indian media. Earlier on January 9, the Russian Embassy had issued a press note regarding the Indian media. The Russian Foreign Ministry had tweeted this press note.

In this too, Russia objected to the reporting of the Indian media, writing, "The Indian media has once again published a biased picture about the Ukraine crisis and Russia's position. The derogatory statement of Ukrainian officials has also appeared in the Indian media. We believe that the biased material published in the Indian media regarding the Ukraine crisis has nothing to do with the official stand of the Government of India. Also, the opinion of well-known experts is different from the coverage of Indian media.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said, "Russia is not a threat to any country. We exercise maximum restraint. Our intention is not to fight the people of Ukraine as brothers. We also do not want any military solution to this dispute. This point has been reiterated many times by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. We are trying to convince the people of India including the international community in this matter that the government of Ukraine is trying to cover up its wrong decisions.

China has been raising objections

China has also objected many times to the coverage in the Indian media regarding Taiwan. In October 2020, the Chinese Embassy in India said, "Concerning the alleged National Day of Taiwan, the Chinese Embassy in India would like to remind friends of the media that there is only one China in the world and that the Government of the People's Republic of China represents the whole of China." does. We hope that the Indian media will follow its government's stand on the One China Policy. Indian media should not violate the One China Policy.

The Chinese embassy had said, "Taiwan cannot be shown as an independent nation or called the Republic of China or its leader cannot be called the president." The wrong message should not be sent among the common people." China shows so much sensitivity about Taiwan in the Indian media, but in the media there, India's Arunachal Pradesh is called Southern Tibet.

Question of Taiwan

On the advice given by the Chinese Embassy to the Indian media, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu tweeted, "India is the world's largest democracy. Here the press is also free. Communist China wants to impose censors in India. Indian friends in Taiwan will have only one reaction - get lost.

Tanvi Madan has written, "The Russian Embassy has free advice which the Chinese Embassy is not able to understand. This attitude will hardly affect the Indian media." Earlier, the Russian Embassy had objected to the question of a quiz of the English newspaper The Hindu.

The Hindu asked in its quiz question on Twitter, "Which part of Ukraine was annexed by Russia in 2014?" To which four options were given, including Crimea. Retweeting this question from the quiz, the Russian embassy wrote, "Dear The Hindu, tell us something about the earlier attack. We have never seen that you have said anything about it.

India's stand in the UN

India has not voted in favor of all the resolutions that have come against Russia for the attack on Ukraine. India has also not voted in support of Russia, but India's exclusion from voting is seen as not condemning Russia.

Apart from India, China and UAE have also stayed out of voting. However, China in its statement has supported President Putin's stand on NATO. At the same time, India has neither condemned NATO nor Russia in its statement.