Estonia believes that New Delhi has the potential to persuade Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Estonia’s President Alar Karis in February this year on the sidelines of the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris. During that meeting, Karis had pointed to India’s role in the international arena and stressed the importance of respecting international law.
Estonia’s Prime Minister Kristen Michal, in an exclusive conversation with StratNewsGlobal in the capital Talinn, underscored that point.
“I believe like-minded countries should be working together … India has growing power in the whole world not just economically, but politically also. So we would very much appreciate that India would be pushing Russia towards ending aggression in Ukraine,” he said.
Estonia is a member of NATO and hosts the headquarters of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE). Prime Minister Michal confirmed talks with India on cybersecurity.
“Estonia has a long tradition and very strong experiences coming from Russia’s cyber-attacks against us since 2007, so we have been under constant attacks from Russia’s side and our IT sector was evolving and still evolving quite rapidly,” he said, and was hopeful of building an effective partnership in defence and cybersecurity.
Prime Minister Modi has tread a careful path, conveying messages between Moscow and Kyiv. He met Russia’s President Putin and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy back-to-back last year, making the case for dialogue and diplomacy.
Kaimo Kuusk, Permanent Secretary General of Estonia’s Ministry of Defence, questioned India’s neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.
“For me, Russian aggression against Ukraine is very clearly black and white… I cannot accept neutrality in this case … Russia is destroying the international order and international law. It should be in all our interest to keep laws, in that case, you can’t be neutral.”
He said India can become a key player in helping Ukraine address the challenges they are facing due to a collapsing energy infrastructure.
“All of us should be on the side of international law. That means we should support Ukraine. If it’s not directly (through) military means … help Ukrainian civilians against the cold winter,” he said.
He added, “Russia has attacked energy infrastructure, give them some spare parts for power grids, substations, to repair. This gives hope for Ukrainians.”
In December 2024, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had met his Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna in Bahrain on the sidelines of Manama Dialogue.
Estonia is expecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit their country soon along with EAM Jaishankar. PM Modi will become the first Indian PM to visit Estonia after it gained independence in 1991 from the Soviet Union.
India re-established diplomatic ties with Estonia in September 1991, a month after the Baltic nation gained independence from the Soviet Union. New Delhi had recognised Tallinn in 1921 when Estonia was admitted to the League of Nations.
India opened its Embassy in Tallinn in December 2021. Prior to that, the Indian Embassy in Finland used to manage ties with Estonia.
