Geopolitics/Geoeconomics Thread - June 2015

[hanumadu]

https://x.com/AlexLuck9/status/1794688641442492427 ---> You can have a "sanctions-proof" air force or you can have a capable air force. Pick one.

Classic gaslighting.

[NRao]

الله أك (allahu akbar)

Harvard will no longer take positions on issues that don’t affect its ‘core functions’

Wonder if this means Ashoka University will no longer be funded for wokism. Or Niti Ayog will no longer have to check with HU.

[Pratyush]

^^^

Both are core functions outside of USA.

[sanman]

Col. Douglas Macgregor on the INSTC corridor:

[sanman]

US debt-servicing costs headed upward as foreign demand for its treasuries plunges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hm93bD0gXY

This looks to be the next big trend - and it's an ominous one for the US.

The only ones continuing to buy US debt are its vassal states -- they're the last buyers left, and they'll be left holding the bag (along with the American people) when sh!t hits the fan.

[drnayar]

White Man Offered Hassle-Free Re-election If I Allowed His Nation To Build Air Base: Bangladesh PM Hasina
https://www.news18.com/world/white-man- ... 06123.html
28 May 2024

boss this should be in the Geopolitics thread ?! .. and the US thread .. just connect those dots of India warning the US of interference in Bangladesh elections !!

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 64872.html

[drnayar]

https://x.com/AlexLuck9/status/1794688641442492427 ---> You can have a "sanctions-proof" air force or you can have a capable air force. Pick one.

Classic gaslighting.

"capability" capped at end user level ..what crap

[drnayar]

White Man Offered Hassle-Free Re-election If I Allowed His Nation To Build Air Base: Bangladesh PM Hasina
https://www.news18.com/world/white-man- ... 06123.html
28 May 2024

boss this should be in the Geopolitics thread ?! .. and the US thread .. just connect those dots of India warning the US of interference in Bangladesh elections !!

Pushing Bangladesh may aid extremist forces, India indicates to US
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... 64872.html
29 Aug 2023

[Rakesh]

boss this should be in the Geopolitics thread ?! .. and the US thread .. just connect those dots of India warning the US of interference in Bangladesh elections !!

My bad Dr Saab. Moved to this thread.

[drnayar]

US debt-servicing costs headed upward as foreign demand for its treasuries plunges

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hm93bD0gXY

This looks to be the next big trend - and it's an ominous one for the US.

The only ones continuing to buy US debt are its vassal states -- they're the last buyers left, and they'll be left holding the bag (along with the American people) when sh!t hits the fan.

It will.be downhill from now on as dedollarisation gathers pace and alternative currencies gain traction.. there could be an inflection point somewhere down the line as a desperate America resort to crude ways to change

[drnayar]

https://on.ft.com/3R9HANw


French ratings are down

Macrons getting grilled..slowly ..

So what does he do .. get involved in Ukraine.. go head to bead with Russia

Hilarious .. reminds one how lucky india is to have modi at the helm

[NRao]

Col. Douglas Macgregor on the INSTC corridor:
,............

Bharat has a listening post on that "port".

Just saying.

Recall, that around 1980 Bharat/Iran had an agreement to let Bharat open a front against buddy TSP from Iranian soil!!! जी हाँ

[NRao]

India Constructing Road From Jalpaiguri To Doklam

[chetak]

de-dollarization



Saudi Arabia stops selling oil exclusively in US Dollar: As 50-year-old US-Saudi Petrodollar Agreement expires, new avenues expected in the global economy


https://www.indiatoday.in/business/stor ... 2024-06-13

In Short:

Saudi Arabia ends 80-year petrodollar deal with US
Deal allowed Saudi oil sales in US dollars only
Saudi can now use other currencies like RMB, Euros, etc
Saudi Arabia has decided not to renew its 80-year petrodollar deal with the United States, which expired on Sunday, June 9, as per media reports.

This agreement, originally signed on June 8, 1974, had been a key part of US global economic influence.

The deal set up joint commissions for economic cooperation and Saudi Arabia's military needs. Back then, American officials hoped it would encourage Saudi Arabia to produce more oil and strengthen economic ties with Arab countries.

[chetak]

Do you guys recognise any of this narrative and how it corelates to the BIF backed pappu spewed poppycock and balderdash that was spouted by the eyetaalian mafia and the congi clowns

was it for this nonsense that he went abroad for his tuition classes





Cloward–Piven strategy

History
Cloward and Piven were both professors at the Columbia University School of Social Work. The strategy was outlined in a May 1966 article in the liberal magazine The Nation titled "The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty".[4]

Strategy
Cloward and Piven's article is focused on subversively compelling the Democratic Party, which in 1966 controlled the presidency and both houses of the United States Congress, to "redistribute income" to help the poor. They stated that full enrollment of those eligible for welfare "would produce bureaucratic disruption in welfare agencies and fiscal disruption in local and state governments" that would: "...deepen existing divisions among elements in the big-city Democratic coalition: the remaining white middle class, the working-class ethnic groups and the growing minority poor. To avoid a further weakening of that historic coalition, a national Democratic administration would be constrained to advance a federal solution to poverty that would override local welfare failures, local class and racial conflicts and local revenue dilemmas."[5]

They further wrote:

The ultimate objective of this strategy – to wipe out poverty by establishing a guaranteed annual income – will be questioned by some. Because the ideal of individual social and economic mobility has deep roots, even activists seem reluctant to call for national programs to eliminate poverty by the outright redistribution of income.[5]

Michael Reisch and Janice Andrews wrote that Cloward and Piven "proposed to create a crisis in the current welfare system – by exploiting the gap between welfare law and practice – that would ultimately bring about its collapse and replace it with a system of guaranteed annual income. They hoped to accomplish this end by informing the poor of their rights to welfare assistance, encouraging them to apply for benefits and, in effect, overloading an already overburdened bureaucracy."[6]

The main steps of this strategy are to:

Overload a system.
Create mass panic and hysteria as the system is overloaded.
Oversee the destruction of the system.
Replace the former system with a new system.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloward%E ... n_strategy


https://www.thenation.com/article/archi ... d-poverty/

[NRao]

^^^^^

Yes, yes. Shri Kejriwal has applied for a patent in Bharat.

While at it please check out the Albert Einstein Institution. Which has documented some 200 methods of nonviolent methods of civil disobedience. One of them is a farmer's protest.

Modi saheb has ordered a "full spectrum" response to events in Jammu.

[chetak]

China Shocks Pakistan.

China rejects Pak’s request for $17 Billion for CPEC.

China’s CPEC Failing


The cheeni dreams of avoiding/bypassing/lessening the geopolitical and strategic impact of the malacca straits trap is now in jeopardy, all because of a bunch of greedy unwashed mullahs and avaricious jernails






https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world ... 51031.html


China refuses to fund fresh CPEC projects in Pakistan

China has refused to fund fresh projects in Pakistan due to the lack of progress on the multi-billion-dollar China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Islamabad’s failure to honour its financial obligations.

China also has concerns about the safety of Chinese nationals working in the CPEC project as there have been attacks by terrorist groups.

China has invested over $25 billion in Pakistan for the project.

The CPEC, introduced in 2013 as the flagship extension of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), was expected to transform Pakistan into a regional hub for economic connectivity.

[S_Madhukar]

That’s very generous of Eleven uncle. Truly best friends. Not one Maulana fauji Porki picked up for stir fry ?? Plus some donations for fauj to keep looking like a fighting farce ? Truly Confucius has blessed Allah

[sanjaykumar]

Does China not know Pakistanis are schlong e khaas? Strategy location and all.

[chetak]

The pakis are covering their tattered backsides, because the purpose of paki PM sharif's visit to cheen, June 4-8, the sole purpose of which was to basically to beg for the rescheduling of some of the maturities in the slew of cheen debt instruments that will be maturing in the next three years. The rest of the schittshow was mere PR masala to cover up the fact that this was yet another desperate "katora" trip


The bare fact is that the cheen paki relations have soured beyond any currently foreseeable redemption. The cheen seem hell bent on teaching the avaricious and duplicitous pakis a bitter lesson in applied economics



Shehbaz Sharif in China: Why Pakistan's hopes for 'CPEC 2.0' may be dashed


https://www.business-standard.com/exter ... 995_1.html

Jun 03 2024,

Why is Shehbaz Sharif really visiting China?

According to Husain, the real aim of Shehbaz Sharif's visit to China is to ensure that some of the maturities in the Chinese debt instruments that will be maturing in the next three years are rescheduled, which the Pakistani government is trying to dress up as a relaunch of CPEC "for public consumption".

The reason for such a move is that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which does not want its resources to be used to service Chinese debt obligations, has told the Pakistani government that an agreement will only be possible if there is no positive net outflow from Pakistan to China during the programme period.

Additionally,

A desperate Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his coalition government appear ready to go to great lengths to appease China. This strategy likely aims to secure concessions, payment deferments, and immediate assistance at the current critical juncture.

Beyond the media hype surrounding the revival of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Mr Sharif is working to secure a $15 billion rollover facility for five years and to persuade China to fund certain ‘big-ticket’ critical projects that Pakistan needs — but currently cannot afford — during his China visit last week. A businessman close to PML-N leadership shared this information in confidence.

“PML-N leaders aspire to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in investment to Pakistan over the next five years. If they succeed through diplomacy or luck, issues like poverty, unemployment, inefficiency, debt and trade gaps will start falling into place,” he asserted privately over the phone.

Commenting on the China visit, Gohar Eijaz, former minister of industries and commerce caretaker, noted, “The government is attempting to extend the repayment period of the independent power project (IPP) loans from China, which were set up under CPEC, for an additional five years. Additionally, they aim to kickstart CPEC phase two with a greater focus on business-to-business relationships.”

The government is scrambling to secure Beijing’s appeasement to cushion probable economic blows from the IMF

[NRao]

A blast from the past:

https://x.com/IamUrMaven/status/1801661871335866838

Ranjit Katyal: Have you ever heard this name???

He was an Indian-origin billionaire Kuwaiti businessman. In 1990, when Saddam Hussein attacked Kuwait, 170,000 Indians were trapped in the country. The then Prime Minister, V.P. Singh, who brought the Mandal Commission in the name of the casteist vote bank, did not even have the courage to talk to Saddam and arrange for the safe return of those Indians.

The Congress Gandhi family (Rajiv Gandhi) and Natwar Singh had also earned crores from Iraq in the oil-for-food scheme, but no one came forward to save those Indians.

In such a situation, billionaire Ranjit Katyal took the initiative to rescue those Indians from the war using his strength and business influence.

With the help of Air India, Ranjit Katyal single-handedly searched for every Indian in every corner of Kuwait, rescuing 170,000 people and evacuating them from Kuwait in 59 days.

This incident is recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest rescue operation by a single civilian, yet we don't even know the name of such a brave Indian!

It was the Congress government that ruined and looted the country, doing nothing for these Indians nor honoring a hard-working personality like Ranjit Katyal in front of the people of the country.

[KL Dubey]

A blast from the past:

https://x.com/IamUrMaven/status/1801661871335866838

Ranjit Katyal: Have you ever heard this name???

"Ranjit Katyal" is the fictional character played by Akshay Kumar in the hindi film Airlift (2016). The "Katyal" character is modeled on the real-life keralan businessman Mathunni Mathews who was actually involved in organizing this airlift. One Harbhajan Singh was also involved. At least check the comments before posting.

[chanakyaa]

(Prachyam YT video) Leftist Conspiracy Against Bharat

...
In this gripping episode of The Changemakers, Abhijit Jog delves deep into the clandestine tactics and subversive agenda of the Left in India and across the globe. From infiltrating educational institutions to manipulating media narratives, discover how these tactics are corroding the very fabric of our nation, akin to termites silently gnawing at its foundations.

Jog warns of the imminent danger, likening it to a ticking time bomb waiting to explode. As he navigates through the intricate web of leftist influence, viewers gain insight into the insidious methods employed to disrupt societal harmony and undermine national integrity.
...
Timecodes
0:00 - Introduction
2:24 - Abhijit Jog’s Introduction
5:33 - Distortion of Indian History by Leftists and British Colonialists
14:15 - Psychology of Left
22:58 - Communists’ Hatred Towards Nationalism
22:15 - Communists’ Interest and Interference In The History and Education System
28:58 - The Notion Of Anglo-Saxon Superiority, Secret Society Deep State Nexus and The Illuminati
35:25 - India Never Had Any Secret Societies
37:10 - Cultural Marxism And Deterioration of Western Civilisation Due to Communist Influence
43:40 - Communist Shifts From West to East
48:05 - Communist, Semitic Religions and Deep State and Its Influence on Indian Institutions
53:06 - Infiltration Deep State and Left in India
53:53 - The Communists, The Lefts and The Wokes
1:02:23 - Lefts In India and The Hindu Hate
1:05:22 - History of Communism, Student Movements and Education Institutions
1:07:55 - Wokes Capturing of Institutions in India
1:10:38 - Explaining Wokeism
1:13:19 - Shedding Light On Woke Agenda
1:23:13 - Interesting Facts About Karl Marx and Marxist Dictators
1:27:26 - Modus Operandi Of Leftists to Destroy Societal Values
1:30:25 - A True Narrative Vs Distorted Narrative Of the Russian Revolution
1:37:13 - Why There Is No Way Back From Wokeism In the United States
1:44:42 - Message to Indian Youths Studying Abroad
1:52:54 - Rapid Fire With Abhijit Jog

[NRao]

^^^^^

BR needs an acronym, LCM (coined by Lt. Gen. Narayanan)

Leftists, Christians, Muslims.

Only thing LCM knows is conspiracy.

All they have is ONE prophet and ONE book, which cannot be updated. So, anything outside of their book is, by definition, a conspiracy.

BTW, the prophet of leftists is Herr Karl Marx.

जी हाँ

[sanjaykumar]

LCMS?

The last also have a book and if you look at it wrong, yep the most holy men of this religion beat you to death. No delusions please.

[ramana]

Good assessment of Putin's moves in East Asia
https://myind.net/Home/viewArticle/west ... rtnerships

Looks like he wants to make it difficult for US in East Asia as counter to Ukraine

[ramana]

Ben Rhodes advice to Democrats

https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/rul ... ens-to-the

Similar article by P. Zelikow.

https://tnsr.org/2024/05/confronting-an ... -thinking/

[A_Gupta]

https://www.foxnews.com/world/top-us-ge ... r-26-years
Top US general says Islamic jihadist terrorism in Africa has soared tenfold over 26 years

[chanakyaa]

https://myind.net/Home/viewArticle/west ... rtnerships

Great articles, Ramana ji. One piece of information from one of the articles above, although not the primary focus of the article, I wanted to highlight in a broader context. I've not seen it getting highlighted in any print or digital media.

...proposed to support a $50 billion loan to Ukraine using Russia’s frozen assets as collateral...

Over the past 12 months lot of news headlines have indicated the desire to confiscate Ruskie assets to pay for Ukie waar. What many missed (I believe) is that such confiscation has already occurred on a much grander scale against all countries. Post COVID, world's foreign currency reserves were debased/taken away post-COVID by excessive money printing/debt issuance. Uncle and EU combined raised debt over 15 trillions post-COVID and uncle alone over $10 trillion. This number is higher than the foreign currency savings of the rest of the world combined. Those countries which parked their savings in these foreign currencies, saw their saving loose 30-40% of the value. What do you call this (confiscation/debasement/stealing)?

Here is the IMF data showing foreign reserve saving at the end of Q4 2023.
https://data.imf.org/regular.aspx?key=41175%20

[ricky_v]

i am seeing increased chatter in terms of articles specifically pertaining to space and geopolity, a spacialpolitics?? thread is something that should be not too far off from the brf radar at this point, while the report may be nothing more than a means by the dept to coerce more monies from the govt using scary puppet dolls, the increased chatter from many quarters indicate that movement is also fluid to influence and increase camp followers

https://asiatimes.com/2024/06/a-space-q ... -and-iran/

A space quad: Russia, China, North Korea and Iran

The US has flagged as a growing threat to global security an increasingly deepening four-way autocratic quadrilateral quasi-alliance that’s deepening space collaboration among Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.

This month, Air & Space Forces Magazine reports that General Stephen Whiting, commander of the United States Space Command (USSPACECOM), expressed concern over those four countries’ increasing cooperation in space.


Air & Space Forces notes multiple examples of space cooperation among the four, citing

• a Russian rocket launching an Iranian satellite;
  plans for a Russo-Chinese lunar nuclear power plant; and
  a defense pact between Russia and North Korea, which could benefit North Korea’s space and missile capabilities.

The magazine mentions that US officials have also noted Russia’s use in Ukraine of Iranian and North Korean weapons, with support from China to increase arms production. It notes that this growing partnership adds complexity to the already contested space domain, where the US has observed Russia deploying a counter-space weapon co-planar to a US national security satellite, indicating operational intent.

In August 2022, Asia Times reported that Iran launched the Khayyam satellite from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome using a Russian Soyuz rocket, marking a significant step in its space-based military capabilities and deepening its strategic partnership with Russia.

Khayyam can be used for military purposes, such as surveillance and reconnaissance, which could enhance Iran’s deterrence against adversaries like the US and Israel.

The launch reflects Iran’s growing self-sufficiency in space technology and its collaboration with Russia, which seeks new clients for its space program amid Western sanctions.


Declassified US intelligence indicates that Russia launched North Korean short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) in December 2023 and January 2024 and plans to continue using them. The missiles in question, likely the KN-23 and KN-24, are comparable to Russia’s Iskander-M and the US MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).

In 2020, a confidential UN report indicated that North Korea and Iran had restarted their collaboration on the development of long-range missiles. The report mentioned that this renewed cooperation involved the transfer of essential components, which took place during that year.

Iran’s Khorramshahr missile, first launched in 2017, is similar to North Korea’s missile known alternatively as Musudan or Hwasong-10. Reports of Iran purchasing those missiles date back to 2005. US intelligence has been tracking Iran’s search for a high-performance North Korean propulsion system since 2010.

Additionally, Iran’s Shahab-3 missile may be based on North Korea’s Nodong missile, and Iran’s space launch vehicles show similarities with North Korea’s Hwasong-14 missiles.

[A_Gupta]

Allegedly North Korean troops have landed in Russian-held Ukraine.

[NRao]

An ex-CIA agent (Sarah Adams) has made a boatload of claims.

Posting this discussion (since I have a lot of respect for Raja Muneeb)

[chetak]

Houthis To Get Russian Cruise Missiles?

Putin Mulls Mega Anti-Israel Plan As Biden Watches

Sensational report on Russia's alleged anti-Israel plan has created ripples.

According to a report, Vladimir Putin is mulling arming Houthis with Russian cruise missiles.

There are indications that Putin is considering supplying anti-ship ballistic missiles, said the report.

https://www.newsweek.com/putin-houthis- ... en-1919434

Closer cooperation between Russia and the Houthis in Yemen could exacerbate the strategic dilemma facing Western powers as they seek to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea and beyond.

There are indications that Russian President Vladimir Putin is considering supplying the Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi movement with anti-ship ballistic cruise missiles, Middle East Eye (MEE)—citing an unnamed senior U.S. official—reported on Saturday

[ricky_v]

couple more spatiopolitical articles, dont know why there has been a recent upsurge in such output

https://spacenews.com/europes-space-fun ... potential/

According to Gogulan, European space companies have few options other than to look abroad to bridge the financial “valley of death” between technology development and commercial adoption.

Even NewSpace Capital, which has invested in Finnish Synthetic Aperture Radar operator Iceye and French satellite imagery analysis provider Kayrros, gets most of its funding from investors in the United States and the Middle East.

“We [Europe] are spending a lot of time, effort and energy on the most difficult part of the journey,” Gogulan continued, “and when everything is ripe to take advantage of it, we’re giving that away.”

He called on Europe’s largest financial asset managers and pension funds to allocate funding to the space industry.

NewSpace Capital is also in talks with the European Commission and regional investment banks to establish a funding stream specifically for growth-stage companies.

“It takes a village to raise a child,” Gogulan said. “We need 20 funds like ours.”

https://asiatimes.com/2024/07/chinas-gr ... t-with-us/

A new RAND report emphasizes China’s rising risk tolerance and growing strategic maneuvers in space, an aggressive push forged to challenge US dominance in the domain.

The RAND report examines open-source Chinese defense literature, providing a comprehensive overview of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) perspectives on space-based escalation over the past two decades.


It outlines a four-step escalation ladder involving demonstrating space strength, space military exercises, disposition of space forces and space strikes. The strategy aims to coerce opponents into submission while avoiding full-scale conflict.

The report says the shift toward higher risk tolerance in space is significantly influenced by the PLA’s view of the US as a declining power likely to resort to militarization. It also claims that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s influence has shaped the PLA’s increasing risk tolerance in space.

RAND recommends that US officials should anticipate quick decision-making with little communication and not expect cooperation from the PLA in space crises. It says the US Space Force (USSF) should prepare for aggressive PLA actions in space even in peacetime.

[NRao]

Reformist lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian wins Iran’s presidential vote

[g.sarkar]

https://thediplomat.com/2024/07/why-mod ... hird-term/
Why Modi Made Russia the Destination of the First Bilateral Visit of His Third Term?
The likely return of Trump as U.S. president is expected to reduce American support for Ukraine. Modi could be eyeing a peacemaker’s role in that conflict.
Elizabeth Roche, July 03, 2024
On July 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a three-day visit to Russia and Austria. This marks his first bilateral visits since taking oath for a rare third consecutive term as India’s prime minister last month.
Traditionally, Modi has chosen one or more of India’s neighbors for his first visits abroad, emphasizing India’s neighborhood as a foreign policy priority.
So, the choice of Russia and Austria this time may seem odd, but a closer look could help discern the “method behind the madness.”
Given the intense global flux, India’s stated aim has been multi-alignment, that is joining hands with different partners at different points in time to maximize New Delhi’s advantage. A case in point: India getting Russian oil at discounted prices despite Western objections in the midst of the Ukraine conflict.
With Modi giving the 2024 Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Kazakhstan that Putin is attending, a miss, and no indication yet that he will attend the Moscow-hosted BRICS summit later this year, this bilateral visit by Modi, as the Ukraine war rages, will send out some key messages. It could also address some issues.
For starters, this will be Modi’s first Russia visit in five years. It comes at a time when the Russian president has few credible friends.
Annual India-Russia summits have been a regular feature since 2000, when New Delhi and Moscow alternatively began hosting the meetings. However, there has been a break in these summit meetings in recent years.
In 2021, Putin visited New Delhi. Then on February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. That shredded ties between Western nations and Russia.
Although Modi did meet Putin in 2022, this was not in Moscow but on the sidelines of the SCO meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. It was at that meeting that Modi told Putin that “this is not an era of war.”
New Delhi and Moscow have enjoyed close ties for decades, especially after India and the former Soviet Union signed the “Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation” in 1971. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, their relationship was redefined.
The annual summits have been a key means to anchor long-standing ties in a changing world. Defense and energy have been crucial elements of a reframed partnership but ties are still flagging, as an economically stronger India relies more on the West for technology and investments.
Meanwhile, Russia has been drifting towards India’s strategic rival China following tensions with the West, after the annexation of Crimea in 2014. Russia’s move into the Chinese orbit is worrisome for India, which is in the midst of a tense border standoff with China.
In 2022, just days before the Ukraine invasion, Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a “friendship without limits” much to New Delhi’s chagrin.
Against this backdrop, engaging Russia politically while trying to add more practical economic elements to the relationship is imperative. Most of India’s military hardware is still of Soviet-Russian origin, which needs spares. To cite an example, the bulk of the Indian Air Force fighter aircraft is of Russian origin. India has begun diversifying defense procurement but needs Russia to deliver critical spares and some pending batteries of the S-400 air defense systems. India is also looking for replacements for some Sukhoi fighter aircraft. Once a dependable defense partner, New Delhi has been worried about Russia sharing sensitive technology with China or going slow on the supply of spares in the event of clashes with China and/or Pakistan.
Hence, balancing ties between Russia and the West has been key for New Delhi.
......
Gautam

[NRao]

Sahel military chiefs form confederation, cement exit from West Africa bloc

NIAMEY, NIGER —
The military regimes of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso marked their divorce from the rest of West Africa Saturday as they signed a treaty setting up a confederation between them.

The first summit of the three countries, who all pulled out of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this year, also saw calls for greater cooperation across a wide range of sectors.

"Our people have irrevocably turned their backs on ECOWAS," Niger's ruling General Abdourahamane Tiani told his fellow Sahel strongmen at the gathering's opening in the Nigerien capital, Niamey.

The three leaders, who took power through coups in recent years, "decided to take a step further towards greater integration" and "adopted a treaty establishing a confederation," they said in a statement issued at the end of the summit.

The Confederation of Sahel States, which will use the acronym AES and be headed by Mali in its first year, totals about 72 million people.

Shift away from France

Their ECOWAS exits were fueled in part by accusations that Paris was manipulating the bloc and not providing enough support for anti-jihadist efforts.

"The AES is the only effective sub-regional grouping in the fight against terrorism," Tiani declared on Saturday, calling ECOWAS "conspicuous by its lack of involvement in this fight."

The exit came as the trio shifted away from former colonial ruler France, with Tiani calling for the new bloc to become a "community far removed from the stranglehold of foreign powers."

All three have expelled anti-jihadi French troops and turned instead toward what they call their "sincere partners" — Russia, Turkey and Iran.

In early March, the AES announced joint anti-jihad efforts, though they did not specify details.

Insurgents linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group have carried out attacks for years in the vast three borders region between Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, despite the massive deployment of anti-jihad forces.

ECOWAS is to hold a summit of its heads of state in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Sunday, where the issue of relations with the AES will be on the agenda.

Relations between ECOWAS deteriorated following a July 2023 coup that brought Tiani to power. The bloc imposed sanctions and even threatened to intervene militarily to restore the ousted president, Mohamed Bazoum.

The sanctions were lifted in February but relations between the two sides remain frosty.

United front

After several bilateral meetings, this is the first meeting of all three Sahelian strongmen since coming to power through coups between 2020 and 2023.

Niger's Tiani first welcomed his Burkinabe counterpart Ibrahim Traore in the capital on Friday, followed by Malian Colonel Assimi Goita who arrived Saturday.

"The aim is to show that this is a serious project with three committed heads of state showing their solidarity," said Gilles Yabi, founder of the West African think tank Wathi.

The trio have made sovereignty a guiding principle of their governance and aim to create a common currency.

ECOWAS summit

Sunday's summit comes as several West African presidents have called in recent weeks for a solution to resume dialogue between the two camps.

Notably, Senegal's new President Bassirou Diomaye Faye said in late May that reconciliation between ECOWAS and the three Sahel countries was possible.

In June, his newly reelected Mauritanian counterpart, President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, called on West African countries to unite again against the expansion of jihadism.

But the successive summits on the same weekend raise fears of a stiffening of positions between the AES and ECOWAS.

Beyond military cooperation, the leaders Saturday also talked about "mutualizing" their approach to strategic sectors such as agriculture, water, energy and transport.

They also asked that indigenous languages be given greater prominence in local media.

The question of creating a common currency to replace the CFA franc was not mentioned in the final communique.

[ramana]

https://www.arktosjournal.com/p/the-moscow-delhi-axis

Alexander Dugin on Moscow Delhi axis

"Alexander Dugin argues that the Moscow-Delhi axis is one of the most crucial supporting frameworks of a multipolar world order.

Modi and Putin are currently defining the structure of the Moscow-Delhi axis, one of the most crucial pillars of a multipolar world order. Bharat (also known as India) is a state-civilization. Russia-Eurasia is another state-civilization. Clarifying their relations in terms of geopolitics, economics, and culture is fundamental.

We are all now learning to think in multipolar terms, which is a nonlinear system.

Empirically, I have developed a hypothesis: for the stability of a multipolar system, each pole should have no more than one main opponent. If our main opponent is the West, all other poles should be allies. This principle should guide all others in forming their alliances. Only those who aim to be global hegemons and seek to establish a unipolar dominance can afford to have more than one opponent. However, this will ultimately lead to their downfall.

From a pragmatic standpoint, it is crucial for the hegemon to ensure that other poles have more than one opponent, preferably excluding the West. This strategy makes it easier to control such poles.

India has issues with China and, to a lesser extent, with the Islamic world (mainly through Pakistan, but not exclusively). This drives India closer to the West, with which it also has historical grievances (such as colonialism). Therefore, India needs to understand the logic of multipolarity more clearly, and Russia, with which India has no conflicts, can greatly assist in this.

Russia is currently on the front line of the conflict with the hegemon, making the construction of multipolarity and the promotion of its philosophy our natural mission.

(translated by Constantin von Hoffmeister)"

[sanman]

https://www.arktosjournal.com/p/the-moscow-delhi-axis

Alexander Dugin on Moscow Delhi axis

"Alexander Dugin argues that the Moscow-Delhi axis is one of the most crucial supporting frameworks of a multipolar world order.

Modi and Putin are currently defining the structure of the Moscow-Delhi axis, one of the most crucial pillars of a multipolar world order. Bharat (also known as India) is a state-civilization. Russia-Eurasia is another state-civilization. Clarifying their relations in terms of geopolitics, economics, and culture is fundamental.

We are all now learning to think in multipolar terms, which is a nonlinear system.

Empirically, I have developed a hypothesis: for the stability of a multipolar system, each pole should have no more than one main opponent. If our main opponent is the West, all other poles should be allies. This principle should guide all others in forming their alliances. Only those who aim to be global hegemons and seek to establish a unipolar dominance can afford to have more than one opponent. However, this will ultimately lead to their downfall.

From a pragmatic standpoint, it is crucial for the hegemon to ensure that other poles have more than one opponent, preferably excluding the West. This strategy makes it easier to control such poles.

India has issues with China and, to a lesser extent, with the Islamic world (mainly through Pakistan, but not exclusively). This drives India closer to the West, with which it also has historical grievances (such as colonialism). Therefore, India needs to understand the logic of multipolarity more clearly, and Russia, with which India has no conflicts, can greatly assist in this.

Russia is currently on the front line of the conflict with the hegemon, making the construction of multipolarity and the promotion of its philosophy our natural mission.

(translated by Constantin von Hoffmeister)"

Thanks, that was a worthwhile post. Good food for thought.

[sanman]

If Modi's message is "War Needs to End", then Modi should first take that message to Washington, which is the author of the war.

If Modi understands the USA's role in bringing this war about, then he needs to demonstrate that awareness a little more through word and deed.

I guess our lack of power means we have to hunker down and wait for a change of govt in Washington.