As Opposition Crumbles, Narendra Modi’s India Will Further Align With Russia

Since Narendra Modi became India’s prime minister in 2014, he has proven himself a deft leader, modernizing the nation’s infrastructure and economy, transforming India into a major global power, and strengthening strategic ties with Russia. Yet his power has always been constrained by opposition politicians who controlled major regional strongholds and served as counterweights to his authority.

But with last week’s landmark state elections, two of the most important regional counterweights to Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp) fell. The result is that India—the world’s largest democracy—may now be drifting toward becoming the world’s largest one-party state, even more aligned with authoritarian Russia.

Two Giants Fall

The most consequential shift came in West Bengal, a state of roughly 100 million people that had been long been governed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress (tmc) party. Throughout her 15 years in power, Banerjee openly resisted Modi and his Hindu nationalist politics, positioning herself as a defender of secularism and minority rights—particularly for Muslims. She actively worked against many of Modi’s policies and often united with other anti-bjp parties to limit his power.

But with last week’s vote, Banerjee and the tmc were ousted and the bjp swept in. “The lotus blooms in West Bengal!” Modi posted on X after the results came in on Monday, referring to the bjp’s signature symbol.

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The victory marks the first time in the bjp’s 46-year history that it has won control of West Bengal. Many analysts framed the outcome as the most consequential regional win of Modi’s long career. Asia analyst Hannah Ellis-Petersen said the victory “will have significant implications for India’s political landscape and deal another demoralizing blow to the already weakened opposition.”

Meanwhile, in the economic powerhouse state of Tamil Nadu, politics had long been controlled by two deeply entrenched parties—the dmk and aiadmk. Their fiercely secular brand of politics had resisted the Hindu nationalist policies of Modi’s bjp for decades and prevented its expansion into southern India. This was most clearly seen under the forceful leadership of Chief Minister M. K. Stalin. But like Banerjee in West Bengal, Stalin was ousted last week.

In this case, the bjp did not win the state. The Tamil Nadu election was instead won by actor-turned-politician C. Joseph Vijay and his new party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. But the defeat of a longtime formidable opponent in Tamil Nadu is widely seen as a significant political victory for Modi.

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Taken together, these developments point to a momentous trend underway in India: The opposition is increasingly fragmented and weak, and Modi is becoming more powerful. Some analysts warn that India may be on its way to becoming a de facto one-party state—one Modi can rule with a free hand.

This would give the prime minister more power than ever to pursue his objectives—both in domestic and foreign policy. Among the most significant aspects of his foreign policy has been an increasingly close alignment with Russia.

The Bear and the Elephant

In 2014, Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin, “Even a child in India, if asked to say who is India’s best friend, will reply it is Russia, because Russia has been with India in times of crisis.”

In the years since, Modi has worked to strengthen the India-Russia partnership, particularly through trade. Bilateral trade has risen dramatically from roughly $10 billion in the mid-2010s to around $65 billion in recent years, driven in large part by expanded energy imports following Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Modi’s alignment with Russia is also in the military sphere, particularly through joint war games and India’s continued reliance on made-in-Russia weaponry. In 2018, Modi agreed to buy five of Russia’s vaunted S-400 air defense systems, despite stern warnings from the United States that it could trigger sanctions. The sanctions never materialized, and in March of this year, Modi ordered five more.

India-Russia alignment has become a defining theme of Modi’s leadership—and with his opposition vanishing, there is every reason to believe that trend will continue. This takes on significance in light of biblical prophecy about India’s direction in the modern age. “I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops,” Revelation 9:16 states (New Living Translation).

In the Trumpet’s September 2014 issue, editor in chief Gerald Flurry wrote about this future army:

The Bible gives some important details about this largest army ever assembled on Earth. It tells us which nations will contribute soldiers to it. It shows it will include the combined forces from several Asian nations. It refers to this Asian confederacy as the “kings of the east” (Revelation 16:12). …

A prophecy in Ezekiel 38 gives us some of these important details. “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him” (Ezekiel 38:1-2). …

Scholars generally agree that “Gog” is Russia, and that “the land of Magog” includes China. The descendants of Meshech and Tubal have been found together throughout history. In Assyrian and Greek histories, Meshech appears as Musku, Muski or Mushki—all names related to the Russian spelling of Moscow, as you can read in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. What about Tubal? On the eastern side of the Ural Mountains lies the city of Tobolsk, named after the Tobol River, derived from Tubal. Tobolsk was once the seat of Russian government over Siberia and was basically considered Russia’s Asian capital.

This massive Asian military force will be led by Russia. Ezekiel 38:5 states that “Ethiopia and Libya” will also be part of the alliance. In this verse, these two names would more accurately be rendered “Cush” and “Phut,” as the Darby Bible and Young’s Literal Translation translate them. History shows that while some branches of the peoples of Cush and Phut migrated to Africa, the rest settled in India. The context of this chapter shows that it is referring not to African peoples but primarily to modern-day Indians.

With Modi’s opposition crumbling, he is better positioned to lead India even closer to Russia and into “the kings of the east.”

The strengthening relationship between Modi’s India and Putin’s Russia shows that the world is headed for the most violent war in mankind’s history. But this trend is also deeply connected to the best news imaginable.

In his booklet The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia,’ Mr. Flurry explains:

War is coming … on a scale that is hard to imagine! … But the Bible also prophesies that at the end of all of these wars, the world is going to see the greatest event ever in the universe: the Second Coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ! … What we are seeing in Russia ultimately leads to the transition from man ruling man to God ruling man! And it is almost here! It is just a few short years away. …

We have to realize that this is all good news because Jesus Christ is going to return to this Earth at the very end of the coming world war. … Jesus Christ is about to return—biblical prophecy makes that clear. Surely we ought to be studying our Bibles and understanding these prophecies. They have such deep meaning and are so important to you!

These prophecies leading up to Christ’s return are being fulfilled today. To understand more about India, Russia and the end-time Asian military force that is already in the early stages of development, and the hopeful message that is at the heart of these prophecies, order your free copy of The Prophesied ‘Prince of Russia.’