Posted on 03/03/2022 5:00:58 AM PST by FarCenter
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine rages on, countries are being forced to pick sides. Much like after 9/11, the United States and its allies are pitching this as an "us against them," "you're with us or against us" conflict between good and evil.
For countries such as India, the reality is much more complex and nuanced. Along with the other Asian giant, China, and other countries such as the United Arab Emirates, India abstained on a procedural motion at the United Nations to sanction Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
India is in the unenviable position of facing territorial threats from a rising and hostile China to its east and an antagonistic and nuclear-armed Pakistan to its west, and very few allies nearby. As a regional power, India has no choice but to balance its historical friendship with Russia and its strengthening ties with the United States.
Like every other major power, India is acting according to its national strategic interests. Going all-in with the U.S. and its allies in a war that is of no direct consequence to India, while alienating an important partner in the form of Russia, simply makes no sense at all.
This explains India's studiously neutral position, siding neither with the U.S. and NATO nor Moscow but mildly expressing its displeasure at the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Not just India, but many developing country middle powers have taken such an agnostic position, including South Africa, which hastily walked back from an initially aggressive line against Russia.
You would never know it from the wall-to-wall coverage in the Western media, but more than a third of humanity has not picked sides in the current European conflict.
(Excerpt) Read more at asia.nikkei.com ...
American’s foreign policy priority over the next few years should be an alliance with India.
They are a crucial part of any anti-China alliance.
With us out of Afghanistan we can now dump our relations with Pakistan in favor of India.
I don’t know what benefit the US (as a country) gets out of any alliance with India; while business loves them as low-cost white-collar workers, they offer nothing to the US as a whole.
They are a backwards, balkanized state, with a decrepit military (in which only certain castes serve) and infrastructure, as well as several regional disputes in which we have no stake. They would be a liability rather than an asset; their moment for relevance passed with their Cold War neutrality, and Americans shouldn’t forget that.
I think someone realizes that ditching the cheap Chinese stuff is not possible without a dramatic hit on quality of life. To think India is going to be an alternative sweatshop is laughable.
Its a flawed democracy, but with 1.4 billion people could be an important future partner of the US.
There is no “anti-China” position within the US government (in either half of the Republocrats), and India knows this; the ChiComs are our blue-collar workforce - we built them up, and continue to fund them as such.
Western governments no longer oppose Red China; they envy and imitate them.
Right; even India wouldn’t allow their workers to treated as Red China treats their slaves.
Frankly as a middle-aged person with little discretionary income (due to family, mortgage, etc.) I just don’t buy very much of anything.
I don’t see what importance they have for us; we have no shared heritage, values, culture - or interests. They are not a “liberal democracy”, but a Hindu state (with all that entails).
It is a little bit of misconception. China is turning into middle class society and their labor is not cheap anymore, but still more efficient than elsewhere, for purpose of mass production.
Indian work ethics is way behind that of the Chinese, especially on the lower end of the labor market.
Dear India:
Be a shame if anything happened to those immigration visas every year for the next few years. We’re sure Russia would be willing to take up the slack.
You are not current in your thinking. It is badly out of date
First of all. China is. China is the most populous nation on earth and unlike near destitute Russia, has lots and lots of well educated and highly capable people.
There is nothing passionate Americans can do that will have significant effect on China
From my observations, I conclude that China is in economic flux. President Xi and his faction of the China Communist Party have created severe economic turmoil as they consciously, on purpose, bring about the destruction of private and family corporations. The CCP through owned corporations is achieving control and ownership of private business.
Hong Kong, a bastion and leader of capitalism is now gone as a capitalist force. The takeover and remaking of Hong Kong was a signal of things to come.
The business of major nations including the USA have left or are leaving. That is major international businesses damned here as globalists companies, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, American have closed resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs.
The China economy in large measure is based on domestic real estate. Ordinary people with some money don’t put it in the bank or buy stocks. They were conditioned to buy real estate. That real estate is Apartments. Sources say it is not unusual for a family to own two or three apartments that may or may not be finished or even started. Mortgage money is or was available cheap. It was easy to mortage a new apartment and pay it off over time. That is all over now. There are tens of thousands of vacant mortgaged apartments in play.
We should keep a close eye on General Motors. Half or better of GM revenue comes from sales in China. GM is in reality the minor pardnet in a Chins joint venture. The CCP ownership of the joint venture pardnership is unclear, but GM could easily be kicked out of china on it’s ass in just one day. Coupled with the intense pressure on market share by Tesla, GM is toast. I relish the thought of UAW families in economic extremis.
That has come to and end. The developers are pretty much all in extremis. Death has occurred or is near. At present while the dying is in process, it is unclear to me what the CCP will do. So far they are just watching, doing nothing to prevent the chaos.
President Xi leads the CCP but he has said that he is creating a new China Socialism. That is an undefined socialist economy that eschews the free market and the present Chinese capitalism but is not communism in the previous sense
However, Xi has opposition in and out of the CCP. It is unclear to me how effective that opposition actually is. It is unclear if it can even partially prevail.
Meanwhile....... what of the businesses that have left China? Have they gone home? No but having lost their China markets are setting up shop elsewhere. Else where includes Vietnam and perhaps Indonesia and the Philippines. For American companies Mexico is said to be included. But, serving world markets, they are not “coming home”
So, in conclusion, Americans have no say about the tremendous forces of change currently in process in China. Xi will succeed or fail on his own
We’ll see
China’s “efficiency” is simply a lack of worker safety measures/protections, not ethic.
Compared to the West you are probably right, compared to India...come on.
Sorry Asia. You want us to buy your stuff. Won’t do it. Go sell to Russia
China is not a middle class anything. It is a communist country that has evil aspirations
The caste system is another form of slavery for india’s poor. When India takes a real effort to become a modern “free” economy I would support tighter ties. So about the same rules that I have with china, do not misuse entire classes of people based on their birth or region. Economic success is neither a birthright or guaranteed for the individual. A lifetime of economic success takes work and risk.
I am neutral in the Ukraine-Russia war but I would love it if the scum running this country shut off the H1B spigot that is killing American workers.
Let’s say that slightly half of them are dirt poor, 10% are filthy rich, the rest make about $10-15k a year which buys about as much as $50k in the US.
There’s nothing to buy in communist countries
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