Russia Expressed Confidence That INDUS-X Won’t Rope India Into Any American Alliances
Contrary to claims from the Alt-Media Community that Prime Minister Modi just dumped Russia, its Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov shared an altogether different view in reaction to the latest Indo-US military-logistics deal.
The most significant military outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest trip to the US was the launching of the “India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem” (INDUS-X), which builds upon their 2016 “Logistics Exchange Memorandum Of Agreement” (LEMOA) and two other foundational agreements that were reached since then. According to Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. General Pat Ryder, the goal is to turn India into a major logistics hub for the US and their shared partners.
In his words, “the aim here is to make India a logistics hub for the United States and other partners in the Indo-Pacific region. And so we intend to support India in the creation of logistics, repair, and maintenance infrastructure for aircraft and ships.” Contrary to claims from the Alt-Media Community that Prime Minister Modi dumped Russia during this trip, which were debunked here and here, its Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov shared an altogether different view in his comments to TASS:
“I cannot but state that the United States has intensified attempts to bring India into its geopolitical structures. Toward that end, both formal and informal bodies are being set up…I am confident that our Indian partners, being quite experienced and well versed in the intricacies of contemporary global politics, are fully aware of the risks that all of this may entail. Meanwhile, India has been and remains one of our largest partners in this domain.”
Russia respects India’s multi-alignment policy and its neutrality towards the NATO-Russian proxy war, which is why Ryabkov isn’t worried that this latest military-logistical development might harm their ties. In fact, it could lead to their further expansion in this same sphere if INDUS-X results in Russia and India reaching their own LEMOA-like “Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics” (RELOS). They’ve been discussing it for a while, but a deal might soon be forthcoming in light of this new strategic reality.
“The US Finally Realized The Futility Of Trying To Force India Into Vassalhood” so it’s unlikely that last year’s maximum pressure campaign will be revived if an agreement is reached on RELOS since this could scare India away from tapping into INDUS-X’s full potential. Even if no similar such deal is ultimately clinched with Russia anytime soon, the robustness of those two’s military-technical ties will still serve to counterbalance LEMOA’s evolution and safeguard India’s strategic autonomy in the New Cold War.
"...are fully aware of the risks that all of this may entail."
I'm sure this is true, and I certainly wouldn't want to cast any aspersion on Rybakov's judgement, BUT I'd feel so much more confident a balanced view was being espoused if, rather than the old-fashioned picture of the proud eagle arrogantly elevating the hubris of his ill-perceived beak higher than the humble (and inaccurately portrayed, in terms of their relative proportions, by the way) tiger in the picture at the top, there was a picture of a vampire, who knew s/he'd been rumbled and was only acquiescing to compromise for fear of having a bloody great stake driven through its perverted and shrivelled heart.