Image caption,PM Modi visited Russia twice last year but President Putin has not visited India since the war with Ukraine began in February 2022

Whenever there is talk of relations between Russia and India, people remember the warmth of the Soviet Union.

In 1955, Soviet Union leader Nikita Khrushchev visited India. During this visit, he said, "We are very close to you. Even if you call us from the top of the mountain, we will be by your side."

Even when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and Russia survived, trust in relations with India remained intact. When the western countries were confused about Kashmir, the Soviet Union had said that Kashmir is an integral part of India.

During the Cold War, the Soviet Union several times vetoed the proposal to internationalize the Kashmir issue in the United Nations Security Council. India has always said that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and Russia has been supporting it from the beginning.

The Soviet Union was the only country among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that blocked the UN's resolution for intervention in Kashmir in 1957, 1962 and 1971. Russia has vetoed the resolutions against India in the United Nations Security Council six times so far. Most of these vetoes were for Kashmir. The Soviet Union had also vetoed India's military intervention in the UNSC to end Portuguese rule in Goa.