When the Americans imposed the mother of all sanctions against Russia for attacking Ukraine, India was happily buying cheap Russia oil at a steep discount. In the process India made billions by reselling Russian oil to the European buyers and incurring the wrath of Trump. India came under immediate attack by the Americans for violating the oil sanction. India did not budge. India's world best Minister for External Affairs, Jaishankar, defended India's position confidently and eloquently in front of American and western leaders, even making them looked foolish. He went on to say India would buy oil from any country in the interests of India. Period.
The clumsy Americans were not able to out talk Jaishankar. This led to the imposition of another 25% tariff against India on all Indian products. For a few months, India was steadfast and held on its position to continue to buy cheap Russian oil. India as a superpower or superpower to be in the same league as America and China, would not be bullied by the Americans. Caving in to American pressure would be hard to swallow for Modi and the Indians. Apparently serious negotiations were in progress to remove or reduce the tariffs.
Just a few days back, Trump and Modi sprang a surprise by coming to a great deal. India will stop buying Russian oil and buy Venezuelan oil from America instead. In return, Trump agreed to withdraw the 25% additional tariff imposed on Indian goods. Washington also made clear that the withdrawal of the additional tariff came with conditions and will monitor what India will do, whether India will completely cut off buying Russian oil. Washington warned India, no direct or indirect buying of Russian oil.
India has been quiet about this, without an official statement to stop buying Russian oil. Is Trump bluffing or India lying? If a superpower like India will be forced by the Americans to stop buying Russian oil, India will not look good in the eyes of the Global South. India is the one and only BRICS member to capitulate to the Americans. This in a way will offend Putin for sure. Jaishankar has gone into hiding, not saying a word about this deal. By now he must have realised that his clever talks mean nothing to the Americans.
Did superpower India really cave in to Trump? Looks like Modi will be invited to the White House again to meet his good friend Trump for more photo ops, more hugging and kissing in front of the media. The bromance between Modi and Trump will move to 2.0. Would India also agree to oppose BRICS' dedollarisation plan again as part of the deal? Can BRICS or Putin trust Modi? It seems that Trump has successfully deflated the Indian arrogance and smart talks by Jaishankar.
What do you think? Is India confirming that it is the weak link in BRICS? What are the other conditions Trump dictated to India and what role will India now play in BRICS?
That is why I say India is like a stray dog looking for anyone that throws it a bone. It cannot be trusted, has no backbone to stand its ground, no principles to uphold and has no respect or support whatsoever among its immediate neighbors. India is looked upon by neighbors as just a bully, nothing more.
ReplyDeleteChina has long washed it hands off India, hardly bothering with its antics. The Chinese have seen the behavior of India under the influence of the USA towards its investments in India, with BYD now investing in neighbor Pakistan. India has also banned a number of Chinese companies like Huawei and Tik Tok, all following the dictates of the USA.
India is behaving like its master, the USA, but lacks the economic power to do so and everything is backfiring without enough foreign investments to create enough jobs for its growing population. For India, a touted growing graduate population without corresponding manufacturing jobs for their skills is just throwing good money after bad. Without migrating jobs from largely an agricultural economy towards a manufacturing economy, India is stuck in limbo. Whatever boasting that India has resorted to is not going to change the status quo.
Moreover, changing alliances by following the direction of the wind is not going to help India. India has good relations with Russia, but by straddling two boats, it risks losing the Russian support as well.
Elsewhere in BRICS, India is looked upon as a Trojan Horse, trying to do more harm to the bloc rather than helping to foster the direction of the de-dollarization agenda of the rest of the countries.
Singapore trusted India 101%. See how much money Singapore is investing in India and how many Indians are employed in top positions in Singapore. And many more are coming in as new citizens, PRs and residents. At least 1m Indians are in Singapore.
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