The Indians are actually in two minds. As I always say,
the Indians are playing one side against the other and hoping to have
the cake and eat it. They always play the same game, which is why China
is fortunate not to have the Indians in the BRI.
There are many
things that shows the USA and the West are showing disdain for the
Indians. Remember when evacuations were ongoing in Kabul airport when
the USA was abandoning Afghanistan, the USA refused to allot a space for
India to evacuate their citizens despite the Indian request. It was a
slap on the face for India.
Then there was the attempt to bring
down the Indian financial system with the attack on Adani by short
seller, Hindenburg Research, and subsequent attack by George Soros, who
must also be shorting the Indian market and Adani.
Then there was
the BBC documentary that tried to demonise Modi over the Muslim issue.
Sunak got his marble stuck between Modi and the BBC. He was paralysed
and did nothing.
The German cartoon making fun of Indian Railways
was the latest in attempts to denigrate the Indians. The subsequent
apology serves no purpose, and they Indians are saying too little too
late.
All these are moves discreetly, directly or indirectly,
punishing or trying to pry apart the support of India towards Russia and
it looks to be making some headway as some people have commented.
Anonymous
Where got delimma..india had already gain a foothold in cecaland..oop..sinkieland..
ReplyDeleteModi is visiting Biden in June, apparently summoned to hear the emperor's edict. It does not come as a surprise, as the timing is perfect, with Moscow wanting to sell weapons and trade with India and to be paid in Yuan, not rupees. Understand India still has not been able to pay Russia for weapons supplied earlier to the tune of US$8 billion, of which US$2 billion is now stuck with the sanctions against Russia, if I am not mistaken. India is afraid to antagonise the USA by paying Russia in Yuan, which means bypassing the US$. Russia has little use to take more rupee payments in unlimited quantities, as India export much less to Russia than China, which is why Russia wants to be paid in Yuan.
ReplyDeleteThis is, of course, not to the liking of the Indians having to use the Yuan. It means the rupee is not clearly favoured by the Russians. Therefore it is leading to trouble. The USA is quick on the mark to 'make hay while the sun shines'. Yes, another alliance is in the making, and you can be sure India will be coerced to move in with the West to condemn Russia in Ukraine and of course to confront China. Those who have been summoned to Washington to hear the emperor's edict, eventually had been arm twisted and forced to bend backwards, following the pressure exerted. Of course, no one wants to talk about it. Does the changing stance of Marcos Jr give us any clue? Or Olaf Scholz now being obedient like a dog has anything to do with his visit to Washington?
India is stuck between a rock and a hard place. India is too dependent on Russian energy to antagonise the Russians by turning against them over Ukraine. The USA is bent on making that happen. Sure, India can buy its energy needs from the USA, but it will not be cheap and certainly not highly discounted. Even the Middle East will not be able to give the same deal of highly discounted oil to India like the Russians. Moreover, the USA has no leverage over the Middle East to sell cheaper oil to India, as even Europe is paying very expensive prices for Middle East energy. Remember that most Middle East countries are now closing ranks with Russia, and when it comes to the doctine of 'the enemy of my friend is also my enemy', India may be in deep trouble.
India will not have the balls to make a stance & choose a side. They have been playing both sides since the first Cold War. Russia has been the long standing loyal friend despite the recent (from circa 2000) Indian swing towards the west. Don't forget Russia stood by India during the first Cold War but still kept friendship even after Indian swing towards the west.
ReplyDeleteToday India is exploiting Russian friendship by making tons of profit on the Russian oil but at the same time screwing the Russians with regards to payment. Imagine having to convert Rupee to USD first before converting USD to RMB to transfer payment to Russia. That's making Russia losing twice in currency conversion with Indian oil banks reaping the profit from this double conversion.
According to historians, Little britain plundered 43T (£) while lording over India for 200 years.
ReplyDeleteIt is in the DNA of Indians ( India ) to play both sides for profit, even amongst themselves. This is not an era for India to do so, not when the Arabs and other Muslim nations are putting their differences aside to make a collective stand against scums of the earth, yanks and fellow anglo saxons.
To secure a positive legacy in India, Modi should use this opportunity to extract repayment of 43T from little Britain...payment by installments over 200years is a fair proposal.
Imperative that he organises 1.4B Indians to brainstorm strategies to coerce little britain to cough out the money.
How much USA banks are making just from converting US$ to and from other currencies in global trade alone is not small potato. The same with people using Visa and Mastercard. The Chinese practically did away with all that conversion loss and the USA does not like it.
ReplyDeleteBig item deals like weapons and oil trade between countries are not peanuts, and the loss on conversion into and out of US$ are not insignificant. Though Russia does not have to deal with such losses in a big way, having largely done away with US$, save for repaying old debts, asking for payment in currencies it can easily deal with is not an unreasonable request.
The Indians can try playing both sides, but it will be the big loser. Like the Europeans, energy alone will be enough to push them on their knees.
This is a good time for India to negotiate with Britain for reparation and compensation. Work with Sunak and a few of the top Indian leaders in the British Parliament and strike while the iron is hot.
ReplyDeleteHahaha
ReplyDeleteIf India succeeds in getting reparations and compensation, that will start a precedent and precipitate a gold rush for others. Africa's stolen resources is no small deal, like diamonds, gold, silver and other minerals. As I said before, the Brits can sell their backsides and will still be unable to cope with it.
In fact, place a gun to their heads and they will never do it. Sunak will be the first to go if that happens. And other Indians will be as quiet as a mouse.
The Japs have never admit their atrocities and plunder all over Asia during WW2. They know what it will entail if they admit, just by looking at the comfort women issue. South Korea's comfort women may forgive them since Yoon is now very friendly with Kishida. Not other Asian countries. And that is not even talking about the massacre of hundreds of thousands in China.
India is now a super power to be. It can whack Britain to pieces with its aircraft carrier and long range missiles.
ReplyDeleteDon't mess around with India.
Russia stop proving weapon spare parts to India due to payment issues:
ReplyDelete'About $2 billion in payments from India to Russia have been stuck over the last one year. Russia has decided to stop supplying credit for about $10 billion worth of spare parts. The issue could affect the Indian defence forces's operational ability.
Russia is also said to have turned down India’s offer that the former use rupee proceeds from weapon sales to invest in Indian debt and capital markets to avoid stockpiling.
Indian authorities have also tried to propose the idea that Russia balance the payments from India by adjusting them with the purchase of Indian goods. However, the idea had to be dropped given that Russia has a trade surplus of $37 billion (according to last year’s figures) with India.
The Indian forces use more than 250 Su-30 MKi Russian-made fighter jets, seven Kilo-class submarines and more than 1,200 Russian-made T-90 tanks – all of which are expected to be in use for another decade and would be in need of spare parts and maintenance from Russian defence firms.
Link to article: https://thewire.in/diplomacy/fear-of-us-sanctions-payment-method-issues-stall-russias-military-supply-to-india-report
The Russians are not so smart. They should learn from Red Dot, use the money owed by India to employ more Indian talents to help them invest the same money in India. Just dump all the money into India, the next super power and biggest market in the world, now that its population has over taken China. Sure make money one, not now but in the long run. The Indian talents would know all the good investments to put money in.
ReplyDeleteDon't be scare. If the super talents in Red Dot think it is safe, it must be safe.
Come learn from Singapore. Can also import all the workers from India to boost the economy.
Can also set up a sovereign fund with the money and hire the Indian talents to manage the fund and invest in India. Very safe bet. What do you think people will do gambling with OPM?
ReplyDeleteI believe Russia knows India cannot be trusted and is playing both sides, to see which way the wind blows. India works on the assumption that it can have the cake and eat it as well.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian Foreign Minister already said that it is just looking after India's interest by buying oil from Russia after being pressurised by the USA and EU about buying Russian energy and thus supporting Russia economically. So, the relationship does not go beyond that interest. That clearly indicates that when that interest is no more, India is capable of leaning towards the other side and bite Russia, no matter how close their relationship are at the moment. India's relationship with Russia is basically about Russian weaponry and energy, nothing more than that. Russia is not a big market for Indian products.