India is like Qatar. Whose side is it really on ? China and India have centuries of conflict between them. Russia has always desired a warm water ocean ( the Indian Ocean ) for its fleets. India has played the US off against Russia ever since gaining independence from a bankrupt Great Britain.
Economically, does the US need India more than India needs the US ?
Politically, is India really a democracy ? India is now a flawed democracy that has become an autocratic authoritarian state like Russia and China.
India ranked 96 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index !
Didn't Obama get a Nobel prize for bringing peace to the Middle East? Look how that turned out.
its amazing to learn how many ways there are to do an end run on economic sanctions. Thanks Diane. Maybe the Swedes can set up a prize for transparency in diplomatic relations.
How long, how long will it be before we recognize and act on the fact that Trump is far past his Use By date. And even in his prime, was a greedy, impulsive ignoramus. I wish our Founding Fathers had encoded a way to get rid of such men via statute. My thoughts and prayers will be with him as soon as he begins his postmortem descent into hell.
As usual, you have an excellent summary of the situation. My issue is that we (The US) have been Pollyannish regarding India for over twenty-five years. They have never been a US ally, and they will never be. Russia is their main military supplier and probably their closest ally. They have never even condemned the invasion of Ukraine!
I have lived in Asia for 20 years, and I have been in and out of India for even longer. India is a master at playing all sides against each other. The so-called “Quad” is nothing more than a talking shop. We should focus on ensuring that the existing alliances with Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia are rock-solid.
The highest number of legal immigrants in the USA is the Indian community ( 5 million ). The richest ethnic group in the United States is the Indian community.
Trump has now introduced legislation to reduce the number of Indian students allowed to study in the United States. Why ? He claims it’s to halt their taking away white collar jobs of American grads.
He knows what everyone else knows about India : corruption, bureaucratic, caste ridden etc.
The USA doesn’t need India or China : rather, they need American consumers and businesses and they need access to Yankee knowledge, know how and technology so they can poach it and use it in their own backyard.
Excellent writing Diane. Thanks. India being a democracy is now of little value to the US as it slides toward a style of administration that is snuggling up to that of Xi and Putin's mode.
Gee whillikers. This is an awful state of affairs. Any pretense of this bunch living out some notions of their 'nation', or some 'high idealisms', aren't any deeper than the orange pastiche Donald Trump has applied daily to his lizardine face. Important to examine are analysese that China cannot feed itself without imports of food and energy, despite the fact that they're facing a demographic collapse, and Russia's demographics are even worse, with the hollowing out of its fighting-age men and the hardening and psychic erosion of the war's survivors who are dumped back into a non-functioning economy with few resources. Your reports here suggest that the transnational financialists, for whom the only flag and theology are Money, have completely gamed 'international trade' into transactional dependency and monopoly.
If we want to break this dependency, it'll only happen at the individual level; such as: cut our 'consumptions' that feed this system - energy and stuff our children will end up tossing in a dumpster upon our passing. Which I know, by observation of the middle class folks around me, is like telling your chronically drunk and abusive uncle he might want to quit the booze fighting.
Diane always has insight on what’s happening in world affairs!
India is like Qatar. Whose side is it really on ? China and India have centuries of conflict between them. Russia has always desired a warm water ocean ( the Indian Ocean ) for its fleets. India has played the US off against Russia ever since gaining independence from a bankrupt Great Britain.
Economically, does the US need India more than India needs the US ?
Politically, is India really a democracy ? India is now a flawed democracy that has become an autocratic authoritarian state like Russia and China.
India ranked 96 out of 180 countries in the Corruption Perceptions Index !
Didn't Obama get a Nobel prize for bringing peace to the Middle East? Look how that turned out.
its amazing to learn how many ways there are to do an end run on economic sanctions. Thanks Diane. Maybe the Swedes can set up a prize for transparency in diplomatic relations.
How long, how long will it be before we recognize and act on the fact that Trump is far past his Use By date. And even in his prime, was a greedy, impulsive ignoramus. I wish our Founding Fathers had encoded a way to get rid of such men via statute. My thoughts and prayers will be with him as soon as he begins his postmortem descent into hell.
Dianne,
As usual, you have an excellent summary of the situation. My issue is that we (The US) have been Pollyannish regarding India for over twenty-five years. They have never been a US ally, and they will never be. Russia is their main military supplier and probably their closest ally. They have never even condemned the invasion of Ukraine!
I have lived in Asia for 20 years, and I have been in and out of India for even longer. India is a master at playing all sides against each other. The so-called “Quad” is nothing more than a talking shop. We should focus on ensuring that the existing alliances with Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Australia are rock-solid.
John Lee
Sad world and sad and bad a crazy man is President. America ugly greedy country
The highest number of legal immigrants in the USA is the Indian community ( 5 million ). The richest ethnic group in the United States is the Indian community.
Trump has now introduced legislation to reduce the number of Indian students allowed to study in the United States. Why ? He claims it’s to halt their taking away white collar jobs of American grads.
He knows what everyone else knows about India : corruption, bureaucratic, caste ridden etc.
The USA doesn’t need India or China : rather, they need American consumers and businesses and they need access to Yankee knowledge, know how and technology so they can poach it and use it in their own backyard.
Excellent writing Diane. Thanks. India being a democracy is now of little value to the US as it slides toward a style of administration that is snuggling up to that of Xi and Putin's mode.
Gee whillikers. This is an awful state of affairs. Any pretense of this bunch living out some notions of their 'nation', or some 'high idealisms', aren't any deeper than the orange pastiche Donald Trump has applied daily to his lizardine face. Important to examine are analysese that China cannot feed itself without imports of food and energy, despite the fact that they're facing a demographic collapse, and Russia's demographics are even worse, with the hollowing out of its fighting-age men and the hardening and psychic erosion of the war's survivors who are dumped back into a non-functioning economy with few resources. Your reports here suggest that the transnational financialists, for whom the only flag and theology are Money, have completely gamed 'international trade' into transactional dependency and monopoly.
If we want to break this dependency, it'll only happen at the individual level; such as: cut our 'consumptions' that feed this system - energy and stuff our children will end up tossing in a dumpster upon our passing. Which I know, by observation of the middle class folks around me, is like telling your chronically drunk and abusive uncle he might want to quit the booze fighting.
Excellent survey today, Diane. Thanks.
Tim Long, Just Up the Hill from Lock 15.
Excellent explanation of what went on at the meeting in China.