THE RIGHT BALANCE

A majority of the respondents firmly believe India cannot go the Sri Lankan way. Nearly half the respondents also disapprove of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

- PRADIP R. SAGAR

With nearly 13,000 civilian casualties and an estimated 80,000 Russian troops killed or wounded, the continuing war in Ukraine is considered the most intense conventional conflict in Europe since World War II. New Delhi has trodden cautiously condemning civilian deaths without naming old strategic ally Russia, and abstaining from UN votes on the conflict. It is walking a tightrope: India wants Russia and Ukraine to resolve the crisis, but its (strategic) interests energy requirements, as well as the fact that 70 per cent of its military hardware is Russian-have not allowed it to condemn Russia. Forty-nine per cent of MOTN respondents believe that Russia was wrong to invade Ukraine. Sri Lanka, whose economy is in complete meltdown, has India worried, due to its proximity as well as its strategic location. On being asked if a similar fate might befall India, over 57 per cent of MOTN respondents replied in the negat