Finland: State Visit of Stubb to India
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by Punalippu on March 3rd.
President Stubb Praises the “Democratic Values” Shared by the Genocidal Indian State and Finland During State Visit
President Alexander Stubb was on a State visit to India from March 4 to 7, where he met with Indian President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Prime Minister Orpo also visited India in February, as we reported earlier:
Both of these visits reflect Finnish imperialism’s efforts to strengthen its position in India. India is a semi-colony—formally independent, but in reality an oppressed nation subjugated by several imperialist countries.
India is primarily subjugated by US imperialism, but Russian imperialism in particular, as well as imperialist countries within the EU, such as Finland, are competing for influence in India.
In early 2026, the EU and India agreed on a massive free trade agreement, the largest in history for both parties. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the agreement as “the mother of all deals” and praised it as “just the beginning.” The purpose of the agreement is to open up the Indian market to major EU economies and to help plunder India.
Finland does not want to be left out of the plundering of India. Accompanying Stubb was a delegation of representatives from major Finnish companies. According to the Office of the President, “Finland’s goal is to at least double trade with India,” and the participating companies have already signed several agreements in India.
With dollar signs in his eyes, Stubb declared that India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. That wealth, however, flows into the bottomless pockets of the imperialists and their lackeys, not to the masses of the Indian people. Stubb also met with Ambani, India’s biggest tycoon.
Finnish business delegation accompanying Stubb
The business delegation included Elematic, Versowood, KONE, Nokia, Metso, Wärtsilä, Kempower, Kalmar, Kaune, ICEYE, ReOrbit, Algol, Betolar, UPM, Neste, Lindström, Oy Karl Fazer Ab, Bolt.Works, and Kaiku HR.
Many of these major Finnish companies operate in the industrial sector. Metso is a mining company that may well be looking to plunder India’s natural resources. The plundering of natural resources destroys the environment and, at the same time, the livelihoods of local residents. Mining operations often require the violent eviction of local residents. Some of the companies in the business delegation are in the logistics and retail sectors.
Elematic produces construction materials, and Wärtsilä builds both power plants and engines. Imperialists are building infrastructure projects in India that enable the theft of natural resources and the exploitation of cheap Indian labor. These infrastructure projects, such as power plants and roads, also require the displacement of local people from their homes.
UPM and Versowood operate in the wood and forest industry. The Finnish wood industry is notoriously imperialist. Kempower manufactures chargers for electric vehicles. The electric vehicle industry exploits poor countries to steal battery materials from them, but it is also interested in exploiting cheap labor. Bolt.works and Kaiku HR are, in fact, labor recruitment services.
The Finnish oil company Neste was also part of the delegation. India is currently buying Russian oil and reselling it to Europe with the permission of the US.
Of particular interest are the companies Iceye and ReOrbit, which produce radar and satellite technology; ReOrbit, at least, also produces such technology for military use.
India purchases military equipment primarily from the United States and Israel, with whom it works closely. It has also acquired equipment from Russia. The Indian fascist regime uses this weaponry, as well as espionage and surveillance equipment, to subjugate its own citizens, suppress revolutionary and progressive forces, and, in particular, to fight against the Maoist-led People’s War.
The joint statement adopted in connection with the state visit emphasized the need to increase trade, business activity, and cooperation between India and Finland, particularly in the electronics and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sectors, as well as in the fields of digitalization and artificial intelligence. Imperialist countries want to use India as a source of cheap labor, including in the ICT sector. The brain drain—the migration of highly educated people from their home countries to imperialist nations—is extremely harmful to oppressed nations.
Ukraine and Russia as the main topic of discussion
The Office of the President had already announced in advance that, in addition to trade relations, one of the topics of Stubb’s visit would be “Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine.”
It is important for Finnish imperialism to try to reduce Russia’s influence in India.
IS reported that “According to Stubb himself, he discussed in some way at nearly every meeting how India’s oil purchases from Russia and rising oil prices are swelling Putin’s war chest… The concerns of Ukraine and Finland have now been brought to the attention of the world’s most populous country.”
“From Finland’s perspective, a major success would have been to frame it as ‘Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine,’ that is, to mention Russia’s role. India cannot speak in such terms, as it has chosen to remain neutral in the war.”
In reality, this is not a matter of India’s choice, but of its subservience to imperialism and its role in the scheming between Russian imperialism and American imperialism.
During his visit, Stubb spoke at the Raisina Dialogue 2026 conference in New Delhi, which focused on the economy and geopolitics. In that speech as well, Stubb addressed the war in Ukraine, attempting to advance the interests of “Western” imperialists. Hypocritically, Stubb complained that Russia was violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, even though the imperialists have never cared about sovereignty: Stubb and the rest of Finland’s leadership, for example, have not unequivocally condemned the aggression of U.S. imperialism against Venezuela and Iran.
Stubb’s speech was quite revealing. In essence—albeit through twists and turns, and with demagogic embellishments— called for us to accept that we have entered a new era of deep crises in imperialism, in which the imperialists are doing whatever they please more openly than ever, disregarding “international law,” the facade of “democracy,” or other empty phrases. Stubb said, among other things, that “we should abandon the illusion of a utopian order in which all 200 nation-states of the world live in harmony, peace, and eternal love.”
Stubb clearly took into account India’s status as a semi-colony over which many imperialist powers are vying. He praised the fact that India’s rulers, who are merely lackeys of imperialism, “have had no illusions.”, “Throughout your entire period of independence, your foreign policy has been based on a pragmatic and realistic worldview.” In other words, selling out the interests of the Indian people to the highest bidder and playing a role in the intrigues among the imperialists.
Stubb calls India a “great democracy”
The Indian state has long been moving toward fascism in order to resist the struggle of the masses and, in particular, the people’s war waged by the valiant People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army (KVSA).
India’s rulers have claimed countless times that they are capable of crushing the People’s War. In 2025, they launched their bloodiest campaign to date, Operation Kagaar, whose official goal is to defeat Maoism by the end of March 2026.
Operation Kagaar is officially a military operation against the Maoists, but it is directed specifically at peasants belonging to the Adivasi peoples in rural areas. Civilians are being murdered and portrayed as guerrillas. Genocide is a tactic employed by the imperialists and their lackeys to crush the people’s struggle: the aim is to destroy the leadership of the struggle by murdering party leaders such as General Secretary Comrade Basaravaj, or to coerce them into capitulation and betrayal; and on the other hand, to separate the guerrillas from the masses through genocide, psychological warfare, and handouts.
The old Indian state has also unleashed terror in the cities. All progressive people, journalists, human rights and environmental activists, and defenders of the people’s rights are being persecuted, imprisoned, and murdered.
Operation Kagaar is part of the implementation of the Indian State’s “Vision 2047,” which entails deepening reactionary trends in the service of imperialists. As part of the implementation of this vision, the Indian government has also declared war on “civil society.” It incites terror against religious minorities, primarily Muslims, and the untouchable Dalits. Overall, so-called “human rights” and “democracy” are non-existent in India. Yet Stubb, who is also known for refusing to condemn the genocide carried out by Israel in Palestine, speaks of India as a “great democracy.”
Some examples of the terrorism practiced by the old Indian state:
According to the Office of the President, Stubb “said that Finland and India share democratic values,” and Modi, the leader of a genocidal regime, also referred to “India and Finland as two great democracies.”
In the rhetoric of the imperialists, India is Asia’s “greatest democracy” in the same way that Israel is the Middle East’s “greatest democracy”—that is, in reality, a fascist lackey of imperialism carrying out genocide. The purpose of this genocide and unprecedented repression is to transform India into an ideal land for imperialist exploitation.
