India Narrative

 “The winter is coming” may have become an overplayed phrase from the fantasy series Game of Thrones. But, with the spectre of gas shortages looming on account of the Ukraine-Russia war, Europe, particularly Germany should be bracing for  real-life difficulties, especially when a harsh winter is closing in.  A host of factors have contributed to a grim energy situation, used for heating , transportation and electricity in Europe. When the rest of Europe was reeling under energy related pressure, Germany was relatively well positioned because of established and uninterrupted channels of energy imports from Russia as well as the size of its economy which allowed it to sustain large energy imports unlike other European economies. However, rapidly changing metrics of global security, the lingering impact of the pandemic leading to disrupted supplies, a pent-up demand, climate policies of countries to shift away from traditional sources of energy and above all, the Russia-Ukraine war have a

Russian energy major Rosneft has announced the discovery of a huge oil deposit on the shelf of the Pechora Sea flowing from the Ural Mountains to the Arctic Ocean in the northwest of Russia. Containing an estimated 82 million tonnes of oil, it is believed to be one of the largest discoveries on the Russian shelf in recent times. “The field was discovered based on the results of drilling a prospecting and appraisal well at the structure of the same name in the Medynsko-Varandeysky license area. The work was carried out by specialists from RN-Bureniye and RN-Shelf-Arktika (part of Rosneft) using advanced Russian equipment and in accordance with the highest standards of industrial safety and environmental protection. The resulting oil is light, low-sulfur, low viscosity," the company said in a statement recently. As geological explorations continue in the region, the latest discovery comes at a time when the Western countries remain committed to phase out dependency on Russian energy

  The liberation of Donbass region in southeastern Ukraine remains the "ultimate goal" of Moscow's ongoing 'special military operation', Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Ashgabat Wednesday evening. After wrapping up his visit to Tajikistan, Putin travelled to Turkmenistan's capital city to participate in the 6th Caspian Summit. The Presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan also took part in the meeting of the heads of state of the Caspian Five. On the sidelines of the event, Putin told reporters that everything was going "according to plan" in Ukraine. "The ultimate goal I have outlined is the liberation of Donbass, the protection of these people and the creation of conditions that would guarantee the security of Russia itself. That's all. The work is going smoothly, rhythmically. As you can see, the troops are moving and reaching those lines that are set as a task at a certain stage of this combat work," he sa

The first Eurasian Economic Forum kicks off in Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek on Thursday as Russia battles unprecedented sanctions amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine which is having much wider ramifications not just in the region but all over the world. The Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which also includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, will be meeting in the backdrop of Moscow vowing to raise cooperation with post-Soviet states located in the region to a "qualitatively new level of allied relations" to counter a wide range of "modern challenges and threats". Russian President Vladimir Putin will speak at the plenary session virtually and share his views on 'Eurasian economic integration in an era of global change - New opportunities for investment activity'. Read more

The Russian-controlled administration in southern Ukraine's Kherson region has once again reiterated its intention of joining Russia and also urged Moscow to establish its permanent military base to guarantee full security. Kirill Stremousov, Deputy Head of the military-civilian administration of the region, has said Kherson will not "rush to a referendum" since its results "will not be recognised by Western countries anyway". The integration into the Russian Federation, he told the Russian state-owned news agency RIA Novosti on Tuesday, would be gradual after establishing a peaceful life on the territory. The Russian language will also be given the status of a state language along with Ukrainian in the due course. "According to our plan for integration into the Russian Federation, we must complete the process of transition to all standards of Russian legislation by the end of the year, and only then we can decide on a referendum and our future status,"

Russia has slammed the decision of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to hold a special session on Thursday to address the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine "stemming from the Russian aggression". The special session will be held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva and is being convened according to an official request submitted by Ukraine and supported so far by 53 States. Moscow said on Tuesday that the special session highlights another anti-Russian approach of the “collective West” on the situation in Ukraine. Late Tuesday, the UN General Assembly elected Czech Republic to the 47-member Human Rights Council following Russia's suspension from the body over the Ukraine conflict. "As a justification for the need to hold it, Westerners cite the argument about the 'degradation of the situation on earth', as well as the fakes they themselves disseminated about the events in Bucha and Mariupol. At the same time, the crimes committed b

Calling it a tough decision for his country, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict will "take time" and that Tokyo has no plans as of now to back out from large oil and gas extraction projects with Moscow in the Russian Far East. Kishida made the comment in Tokyo on Monday morning, only a few hours after attending the Group of Seven (G7) Summit video conference which lasted for about 70 minutes from midnight (Japan time).   The meeting was held at the behest of Germany, which holds the G7 presidency this year, and was attended by the leaders of G7 countries and also the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a joint statement released today, the G7 leaders committed to phase out dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil in "timely and orderly fashion", and in ways that provide time for the world to secure altern

Russian President Vladimir Putin told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Thursday that Russia was still ready to provide a safe passage for civilians from the besieged Azovstal steel works in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, according to a Kremlin statement. It said Putin in a telephonic conversation with Bennett also said that Kyiv should order Ukrainian troops holding out in the vast Azovstal plant to lay down their weapons. The commander of the Ukrainian forces has in social media posts stated that his troops are running out of ammunition and food but the top authorities in Kyiv have ordered him to stay put in his position. Some civilians have made it to safety through humanitarian corridors allowed by the Russian forces but there are more still inside. The Kremlin has denied that Russian forces were storming the plant, referring to an April 21 order from Putin that they should seal it off but not venture inside its huge network of underground tunnels. Russian President Vladim

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that "despite Kyiv's inconsistency and unpreparedness for serious work", Moscow is still open to dialogue to resolve the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.   In a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening, Putin also accused the European Union member states of ignoring the "war crimes" of the Ukrainian security forces. This was the first interaction between the two leaders after Macron was re-elected as head of state after his victory in the recent presidential elections. Both Presidents have exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine several times since February 24, the day Russia began its 'special military operation' in the neighbouring country. As Putin congratulated Macron on his election triumph, he detailed the course of the military operation, including the liberation of Mariupol and the evacuation of civilians "held by the nationalists" at the Azovstal plant i

Russia said on Monday that its armed forces continue to strike important military infrastructure of Ukraine with high-precision missiles, including the Iskander-M which destroys air and missile defence systems as well as other important objects at a distance of up to 500 km. Releasing a video on the operation today, the Russian Defence Ministry showed how the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system destroys an entire battery of Smerch multiple launch rocket systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a high-precision strike. "Intelligence calculated the positions of the rocket artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In the sky, an unmanned aerial vehicle controls the target. At a distance of hundreds of kilometers from the enemy, 'Iskander-M' hits the enemy in the heart. In place of the explosion, a sea of fire and a column of smoke. Dozens of destroyed strategic facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been accounted for by such complexes," sai

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Kyiv should take "political responsibility" for the Ukrainian servicemen and "militants of the nationalist battalions" blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol, the strategic  port city in southeastern Ukraine. Discussing the situation in detail, and especially in and around the key port on the Sea of Azov, Putin told Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone conversation today that Mariupol has been liberated and there were no military operations there. "As for the Ukrainian servicemen and militants of the nationalist battalions blocked on the territory of the Azovstal plant, the Kyiv authorities should take political responsibility and, guided by humane considerations, order them to lay down their arms. Prisoners of war are guaranteed life, medical care and treatment in accordance with international legal standards," said the Kremlin.   Quoting Denis Pushilin, the head o

The United States is working closely with its Allies to provide longer-range anti-aircraft, artillery and coastal defence systems as part of its military assistance to Ukraine which it says is having a "critical impact" in the ongoing conflict with Russia.     Jake Sullivan, the US National Security Advisor, said on Monday that the Ukrainians are "effectively defending themselves" with US-produced air defence systems and anti-tank systems, such as Stingers and Javelins, as well as radar systems that give early warning and target data, and multiple other types of arms and munitions. "The administration is working around the clock to fulfill Ukraine's main security assistance requests — delivering weapons from US stocks where they are available and facilitating the delivery of weapons by Allies where Allied systems better suit Ukraine's needs. This is happening at what the Pentagon has described at an unprecedented pace," said Sullivan at a briefing

  Western commentators are struggling to describe the significance of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Fareed Zakaria has described it as a “seismic event”, the most significant international event since the fall of the Berlin Wall, and believes it marks “the end of an age”. Francis Fukuyama has called it “a critical turning point in world history”. He views it as the latest assault on liberalism that had started well before the war when illiberal authoritarian regimes had emerged in several major countries; he sees the war as a reminder “in the most vivid way possible what the consequences of illiberal dictatorship are”.  Thomas Friedman simply says: “Our world is not going to be the same again.” These cataclysmic prognostications from Western sources have not had the same reverberations in West Asia. Four years of the anarchy wreaked in the region by Donald Trump followed by one year of Joe Biden’s insipid and shaky presidency have already created a diplomatic churn, with regional states

For the West to build pressure on India to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine as some kind of a political and moral obligation for a democracy is a brazenly manipulative exercise. If western democracies genuinely believe that all democratic countries have an obligation to band together against Russia on this issue shows how much they have become prisoners of their own rhetoric and are incapable of seeing the incongruities in their position. If, on the other hand, they are aware that they themselves have not adhered to the principle that they now espouse in the case of Russia, it denotes outright cynicism bred by a sense of unaccountable power. India, which has been a democracy since 1947, has not received any special consideration on the political economic and security fronts from the West. On the contrary, it has been subject to decades of sanctions in the strategic nuclear, space and high technology areas. It was pushed toward a close relationship with the Soviet Union in the

Russia’s central bank has decided to allow its domestic payment system to go international as many Russian banks have been disconnected from the SWIFT global payment mechanism following sanctions from the US and European Union. Even as Russia had the second largest number of SWIFT users after the US, the Financial Message Transfer System of the Bank of Russia (SPFS) has been gaining acceptance with already about 399 users. Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina said that this payment system “will continue to operate smoothly.” The payment system, which until now has been catering only to the domestic users, was developed by the Central Bank of Russia since 2014 after the US government threatened to disconnect Moscow from the SWIFT system. Read more

  As the Russian currency -- ruble -- tumbled prompting worried citizens to queue up at ATMs to withdraw cash, Bank of Russia, the country’s central bank, has sprung into action amid concerns over a liquidity crunch. The value of the ruble is now less than 1 US cent. The Russian currency on Tuesday was pegged at over 105 to a dollar, up from about 75 just a month ago after companies and even households came under severe pressure with the US and EU thrashing out sanctions against Russia and barring many Russian banks from accessing the SWIFT payment system. The central bank, which acknowledged that the country’s economic dynamics have “altered dramatically,” increased the key policy rates to 20 per cent– more than double -- from 9.5 per cent in a desperate attempt to maintain financial and price stability. In a bid to support the local currency and protect it from further depreciation, foreigners have been banned from selling Russian securities. Read more

  Russian President Vladimir Putin today announced that he had decided on a special military operation in eastern Ukraine's Donbass region after the Kremlin received requests from the breakaway region for help in repelling threats from Kiev. "Kiev is continuing its military buildup along the line of disengagement, simultaneously receiving comprehensive support, including military one, from the United States and other Western states. The Kiev regime is determined to resolve the conflict by force," the letters to Putin said according to Russian news agency Tass. Also Read:  At the UN, India rejects war - says Ukraine situation should be resolved through quiet diplomacy Putin had on Monday signed decrees, announcing immediate recognition of the "independence and sovereignty" of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Luhansk People's Republic while deploying troops into "independent republics" for peacekeeping functions. "Circumstances require

The developing confrontation between the West and Russia on the Ukraine issue does not serve India’s interests. We have very friendly ties with the US, Europe and Russia and would prefer not take sides. This would require very deft diplomacy on our part. India is now an important global player and both sides will be watching the position India takes. The US will want some show of support for its position, while Russia will want us to take an independent position and not succumb to US pressure. For India an actual military conflict will be most undesirable because its international repercussions will be grave and cushioning against them by us will be most difficult. The US and the EU are issuing repeated warnings at the highest level that in case Russia invades Ukraine it will face sanctions of unprecedented severity. Russia has already been subject to severe sanctions in recent years and seems to have absorbed them so far without excessive difficulty. It has warned the West that the ne

  Rejecting war as an option, India has raised its voice for a peaceful resolution of the situation in and around Ukraine, saying that "quiet and constructive diplomacy" is the need of the hour. Making a statement at Thursday's United Nations Security Council briefing on the implementation of the 2015 Minsk agreements, India's Permanent Representative to the UN, T S Tirumurti said that any steps that increase tension may best be avoided by all sides in the larger interest of securing international peace and security. "India has been in touch with all concerned parties. It is our considered view that the issue can only be resolved through diplomatic dialogue," said the Ambassador. "India's interest is in finding a solution that can provide for immediate de-escalation of tensions taking into account the legitimate security interests of all countries and aimed towards securing long-term peace and stability in the region and beyond," he added. Tiru

  The year 2021 can possibly be called the most disruptive and devastating year in recent memory for the whole world. It had started on a muted positive note with vaccines becoming available to confront the once–in-a-century pandemic and with cautious optimism that the world would be able to overcome the health, economic and social challenges thrown up by the coronavirus. India had to handle its own share of trials during the year. At the end of 2021, India can look back with satisfaction upon the year just ended because it has been able to successfully overcome most of the difficulties that came its way starting with the second wave of Covid-19 and the steep decline of -7.3% in GDP during the last fiscal year. Other major challenges that had to be boldly confronted included the forcible wresting of power by the Taliban in Afghanistan and the continued standoff with China on India’s northern borders. Some of the major highlights of the Indian foreign policy during 2021 which give prom