His last words imply that Russia’s response to its potential loss of billions of dollars a year in energy and maybe also military-technical exports to India, which could be due to India prioritizing its own interests amidst unprecedented US pressure, might also displease India.
This is a highly sophisticated response. In Britain we are taught from an early age to hate Russia and Putin. I began to listen to what he says rather than what my Government and its acolytes say he says. He and Xi are light years agead of any current western politician precisely because they understand the inheritance of history and geography and economics and beliefs. The hand that any nation is given is beyond the immediate control of politicians. They do not have a blank sheet of paper. Understanding limits and opportunities in pursuing the interests of the nation is the key skill to have.
India should be reminded of the duplicitous Lord Palmerstons infamous 1848 quote, "The British Empire has no permanent alliances, only permanent interests" when making deals with King Donald Trump.
I think the recently declared illegality of Trump's tariffs will convince India that their best future lies not with USA and the SWIFT system but co-operatively with the BRICS nations.
Realistically, as one who lives in the US, I can’t understand India fully turning its back on a resource rich nation like Russia. Common sense dictates that you really would want to keep all options open in a world with rapidly shifting defense technology .
Sovereignty has a price. A sovereign nation may decide to pay it all the time or only when it suits her. Since the nation is sovereign, she may also decide, at any time, to stop paying that price, that is, to revert to full sovereignty.
India has been playing this game ever since her independence. In recognition of the Soviet Union's role in her independence and post-independence support, India had a pro-Soviet Union international policy, but she joined the Non-Aligned Countries Group, not the Soviet-aligned group. India's internal policy has shifted gradually, since 1947, from left to right, sometimes through the use of murder—a good measure of the intensity of the internal policy fighting. India is, for all practical purposes, Anglophone. Furthermore, modern India has an increasingly get-rich-quick, capitalist mentality. It should be obvious to anyone that the average Indian, mostly young and well educated, is far more inclined to look at sunny USA than dreary Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Russia is forced to project her sovereignty at every step through the West's policy of rejection and outright hostility.
For me, these two contrasting ideas would be enough to expect a cooler Russian attitude towards India. Unfortunately, Russia's Government cannot afford such an attitude, and it will be forced to live with a weaker position in the game of sovereignty.
Based on similar considerations, I believe less and less in BRICS success. A smaller community of nations such as Belarus, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, and South Africa has a far better chance of success than BRICS.
" is far more inclined to look at sunny USA than dreary Moscow or St. Petersburg."
Not true, Indians dont care as they're flooding all corners of the planet. The simple fact is that India is and always has been a duplicitous paper tiger and should never had been let into BRICS.
I fully agree. Centuries under colonial rule may have transformed the country irreversibly. It is also to note that the entire country has been colonized by England with only one accountant and 15 soldiers. The intrigue and the rivalries between the maharajahs did the rest.
Indias relations with the USA & Russia ebb & flow for a long time. India being in Asia will feell a kinship wit Russia as an alternative to America. Indians have a dislike for things English becausr of British colonial rule in past years.
Personally, I'm very impressed that India lasted this long since I didn't expect it to take almost four years to finally comply with US pressure, but in India's defense, its policymakers truly believed that the SMO would be wrapped up by now and the pressure would naturally end.
A lot of Alt-Media folks were certain that it would capitulate right away, always "soon", and ultimately they were right (just as they say about a broken clock) but for the wrong reasons. I've also always maintained that its large-scale purchase of heavily discounted Russian oil was for purely economic reasons, not ideological ones, but I believe that Russian experts -- caught in their echo chambers and groupthink brought about by their broken feedback loops -- sincerely thought that there was an ideological dimension to this.
Be that as it may, I don't expect Russian policy towards India to change, but Russia does indeed stand to lose tens of billions of dollars' worth of revenue a year (regardless of prior conversion difficulties since a lot were and maybe still are in rupees), and that makes its policymakers very upset since they don't seem to have had a "Plan B".
USA is strong because USA frequently treats its "allies" with contempt - the MAGA movement is all about exceptionalism and America first. If Trump was to honour the ANZUS Treaty then he would not have imposed ridiculous tariffs on 2 small nations who are not able oppose USA's hegemonic behaviour.
This is a highly sophisticated response. In Britain we are taught from an early age to hate Russia and Putin. I began to listen to what he says rather than what my Government and its acolytes say he says. He and Xi are light years agead of any current western politician precisely because they understand the inheritance of history and geography and economics and beliefs. The hand that any nation is given is beyond the immediate control of politicians. They do not have a blank sheet of paper. Understanding limits and opportunities in pursuing the interests of the nation is the key skill to have.
India should be reminded of the duplicitous Lord Palmerstons infamous 1848 quote, "The British Empire has no permanent alliances, only permanent interests" when making deals with King Donald Trump.
Anothrr Russian ally picked off.
So, what's Russia proposing to do about it?
Strongly worded note of protest incoming.
OR one can say India doesn't have a backbone....
I think the recently declared illegality of Trump's tariffs will convince India that their best future lies not with USA and the SWIFT system but co-operatively with the BRICS nations.
Realistically, as one who lives in the US, I can’t understand India fully turning its back on a resource rich nation like Russia. Common sense dictates that you really would want to keep all options open in a world with rapidly shifting defense technology .
It seems a bit rich of the statesman to claim Russia's sovereignty is "rigid and uncompromising".
Putin has signaled its subservience to the US already. Why would India believe Russia would have their back if they sought an alliance with them?
BRICS is in disarray.
Sovereignty has a price. A sovereign nation may decide to pay it all the time or only when it suits her. Since the nation is sovereign, she may also decide, at any time, to stop paying that price, that is, to revert to full sovereignty.
India has been playing this game ever since her independence. In recognition of the Soviet Union's role in her independence and post-independence support, India had a pro-Soviet Union international policy, but she joined the Non-Aligned Countries Group, not the Soviet-aligned group. India's internal policy has shifted gradually, since 1947, from left to right, sometimes through the use of murder—a good measure of the intensity of the internal policy fighting. India is, for all practical purposes, Anglophone. Furthermore, modern India has an increasingly get-rich-quick, capitalist mentality. It should be obvious to anyone that the average Indian, mostly young and well educated, is far more inclined to look at sunny USA than dreary Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Russia is forced to project her sovereignty at every step through the West's policy of rejection and outright hostility.
For me, these two contrasting ideas would be enough to expect a cooler Russian attitude towards India. Unfortunately, Russia's Government cannot afford such an attitude, and it will be forced to live with a weaker position in the game of sovereignty.
Based on similar considerations, I believe less and less in BRICS success. A smaller community of nations such as Belarus, Russia, North Korea, China, Vietnam, and South Africa has a far better chance of success than BRICS.
" is far more inclined to look at sunny USA than dreary Moscow or St. Petersburg."
Not true, Indians dont care as they're flooding all corners of the planet. The simple fact is that India is and always has been a duplicitous paper tiger and should never had been let into BRICS.
I fully agree. Centuries under colonial rule may have transformed the country irreversibly. It is also to note that the entire country has been colonized by England with only one accountant and 15 soldiers. The intrigue and the rivalries between the maharajahs did the rest.
Indias relations with the USA & Russia ebb & flow for a long time. India being in Asia will feell a kinship wit Russia as an alternative to America. Indians have a dislike for things English becausr of British colonial rule in past years.
" Indians have a dislike for things English becausr of British colonial rule in past years."
You're delusional, go visit Britain to see why.
Personally, I'm very impressed that India lasted this long since I didn't expect it to take almost four years to finally comply with US pressure, but in India's defense, its policymakers truly believed that the SMO would be wrapped up by now and the pressure would naturally end.
A lot of Alt-Media folks were certain that it would capitulate right away, always "soon", and ultimately they were right (just as they say about a broken clock) but for the wrong reasons. I've also always maintained that its large-scale purchase of heavily discounted Russian oil was for purely economic reasons, not ideological ones, but I believe that Russian experts -- caught in their echo chambers and groupthink brought about by their broken feedback loops -- sincerely thought that there was an ideological dimension to this.
Be that as it may, I don't expect Russian policy towards India to change, but Russia does indeed stand to lose tens of billions of dollars' worth of revenue a year (regardless of prior conversion difficulties since a lot were and maybe still are in rupees), and that makes its policymakers very upset since they don't seem to have had a "Plan B".
USA is strong because USA frequently treats its "allies" with contempt - the MAGA movement is all about exceptionalism and America first. If Trump was to honour the ANZUS Treaty then he would not have imposed ridiculous tariffs on 2 small nations who are not able oppose USA's hegemonic behaviour.