FOREIGN POLICY: New, Strong and Clear Outreach

[no smoking]

Nope, he was putting forth Germany’s internal point of view. Germany does not want military escalation with Russia, US and NATO do.

So, he wants Germany to travel thousands miles to the other half of the earth to have military escalation with China, funny.

 

[Tshering22]

When Joe Biden & Kamala Harris were campaigning for the US elections they made many incriminating statements against India on Kashmir.( not considering they completely flipped after elections )

If no one listens to Pakistan we wouldn't be having issues with Turkey, Malaysia & Western liberals on Kashmir. We could use our embbassie to do the same thing with Balochistan.

They are not raising the hackles for us because of Pakistan; the Western liberal elite always need a "political leverage" to make the nations comply. They tried hard to push China and Beijing retaliated with contracting supply chains and delaying deliveries causing chaos in their countries.

India needs to hit the elite Liberals and weaken them. Mahathir of Malaysia was always cold towards India even in the 80s. Just look at his policies wrt Indo-Malaysians. Once he left the chair, Malaysia has returned to normalcy.

We don't have any economic engagement with Turkey except at a very nominal level, giving Turkey the wiggling room to fool around. However, when push comes to shove, they will prefer being friendly to us once Erdogan leaves. He's already showing signs of mellowing down and has reached out to Israel for starters. He will reach out to PM Modi as well soon.

But WLs are not like that - they are flush with cash, conceited in their past colonial achievements & consider us as a threat to their continued domination of the world order. China has been upending them but China is a fortress to their attacks. While we start explaining our position, China shows them the finger and declares whomsoever they support as "anti-national terrorists" without hesitation.

Without economic power, we can't do that. And we need to build this economic power, independent of the West. Through more engagement and projects with other developing countries. Creating a wealth system that is designed for large-scale development contracts, financed by international financing institutions but fills our coffers. If China, Turkey & Iran are able to do this, I wonder why aren't we building railways, roadways, pipelines, power plants, mines, dams, etc. in developing nations commercially.

It will bring us $$ as well as create an independent monetary ecosystem.

 

[ShouvikGhosh]

They are not raising the hackles for us because of Pakistan; the Western liberal elite always need a "political leverage" to make the nations comply. They tried hard to push China and Beijing retaliated with contracting supply chains and delaying deliveries causing chaos in their countries.

India needs to hit the elite Liberals and weaken them. Mahathir of Malaysia was always cold towards India even in the 80s. Just look at his policies wrt Indo-Malaysians. Once he left the chair, Malaysia has returned to normalcy.

We don't have any economic engagement with Turkey except at a very nominal level, giving Turkey the wiggling room to fool around. However, when push comes to shove, they will prefer being friendly to us once Erdogan leaves. He's already showing signs of mellowing down and has reached out to Israel for starters. He will reach out to PM Modi as well soon.

But WLs are not like that - they are flush with cash, conceited in their past colonial achievements & consider us as a threat to their continued domination of the world order. China has been upending them but China is a fortress to their attacks. While we start explaining our position, China shows them the finger and declares whomsoever they support as "anti-national terrorists" without hesitation.

Without economic power, we can't do that. And we need to build this economic power, independent of the West. Through more engagement and projects with other developing countries. Creating a wealth system that is designed for large-scale development contracts, financed by international financing institutions but fills our coffers. If China, Turkey & Iran are able to do this, I wonder why aren't we building railways, roadways, pipelines, power plants, mines, dams, etc. in developing nations commercially.

It will bring us $$ as well as create an independent monetary ecosystem.

If we can hold on to the growth trajectory. I am sure most of these problems will be overcomed.

The Western & Eastern economic corridors which will utilise the WDFC & EDFC as their backbone is ment to overcome the logistics problem that India faces. There are several other infra projects that will transform India with in the next 5 years.

India does get involved in infrastructure development in different countries like for example in Bangladesh , Maldives , Sri Lanka. Though not to the extent of China.

Maitree Super Thermal Power Project - NS Energy

The Maitree super thermal power project is a 1,320MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power station under construction in Rampal, Bangladesh.

www.nsenergybusiness.com

Those Western liberals will never shut up. They will just because more & more inconsequential as India advance economically.

 

[Tshering22]

View attachment 135301
View attachment 135302

If we can hold on to the growth trajectory. I am sure most of these problems will be overcomed.

The Western & Eastern economic corridors which will utilise the WDFC & EDFC as their backbone is ment to overcome the logistics problem that India faces. There are several other infra projects that will transform India with in the next 5 years.

India does get involved in infrastructure development in different countries like for example in Bangladesh , Maldives , Sri Lanka. Though not to the extent of China.

Maitree Super Thermal Power Project - NS Energy

The Maitree super thermal power project is a 1,320MW ultra-supercritical coal-fired power station under construction in Rampal, Bangladesh.

www.nsenergybusiness.com

Those Western liberals will never shut up. They will just because more & more inconsequential as India advance economically.

I am talking about the wider planet. There is not a single country on earth (including Taiwan) where Chinese are not commercially involved. They are among the top 5 trade partners for any country at the very least. And mind you, they didn't start giving out loans every time initially.

 

[sorcerer]

Second Maritime Security Dialogue: India & EU discuss cooperation in joint naval activities in Indo-Pacific

India and the European Union held their second virtual maritime security dialogue on Tuesday, 1 February 2022. The dialogue aims to increase mutual understanding and cooperation opportunities between India and the EU in the maritime security domain as part of the two sides’ strategic partnership in accordance with the India-EU Roadmap to 2025.

Second Maritime Security Dialogue: India & EU discuss cooperation in joint naval activities in Indo-Pacific - NewsOnAIR -

India and the European Union held their second virtual maritime security dialogue on Tuesday, 1 February 2022. The dialogue aims to increase mutual understanding and cooperation opportunities between India and the EU in the maritime security domain as part of the two sides’ strategic...

newsonair.com

 

[Tshering22]

So, he wants Germany to travel thousands miles to the other half of the earth to have military escalation with China, funny.

He wants to have Russia on European side and counter the Chinese in terms of technology, trade and foreign influence. While Olaf Scholz is not strong enough to clarify this publicly, he knows that Russia is a powerhouse when on the right side. Putin sits on vast natural resources, strong military industry, pragmatic international policy and is more beneficial as a friendly trade partner than an adversary.

China or Russia on their own can be overwhelmed with the combined Western might, but Russia and China together, even as a marriage of convenience, are a formidable front.

What I am curious about is Germany's position wrt India. Indo-Pacific for Europeans = the ocean. We need to anchor ourselves as the go-to country for this region. No Indo-Pacific without Indian involvement. It is time that we establish a Monroe Doctrine in the IOR and work towards it.

 

[no smoking]

He wants to have Russia on European side and counter the Chinese in terms of technology, trade and foreign influence. While Olaf Scholz is not strong enough to clarify this publicly, he knows that Russia is a powerhouse when on the right side. Putin sits on vast natural resources, strong military industry, pragmatic international policy and is more beneficial as a friendly trade partner than an adversary.

The he is a political and economic idiot! Getting Russia on your side is not an empty words. You have to agree with Russia's influence sphere which includes Ukraine. If you give up Ukraine, then what will other eastern Europe countries think? Then what will the rest of world think: a group of countries can't even protect their neighbors.

Economically, China is Russia's top one trading partner in 2020 (Export - $49.061 B). How Europe intends to compensate this amount if she wants Russia on her side?

 

[indiatester]

Jaishankar is quite savage with his replies in such forums. He calls out the hypocrisy of the west in an concise and articulate manner which cannot be refuted.

Also an indication that the atrocity literature that west could use earlier is turning against it with civilizational nations like ours calling them out.

 

[ezsasa]

Jaishankar is quite savage with his replies in such forums. He calls out the hypocrisy of the west in an concise and articulate manner which cannot be refuted.

Also an indication that the atrocity literature that west could use earlier is turning against it with civilizational nations like ours calling them out.

the way the moderator came out swinging at EAM right at the start was most disrespectful, but when you see her career profile lynn kuok ( brookings - singapore - iisc - shangri la dialogue) it's more than a trifecta, all of them favour china.

on the four questions, apparently this is a technique used to put the other party on the defensive, was looking at it last month to check if this technique has a name, so far no success. we notice this quite frequenly used by BBC when it comes to interviewing anyone from BJP. i doubt anyone else from our side could have handled it well, other than jai shankar. she was not adversarial to any of the other panelists.

 

[fooLIam]

Jaishankar is quite savage with his replies in such forums. He calls out the hypocrisy of the west in an concise and articulate manner which cannot be refuted.

Also an indication that the atrocity literature that west could use earlier is turning against it with civilizational nations like ours calling them out.

1Does anyone have full videos of this

 

[AMCA]

1Does anyone have full videos of this

 

[indiatester]

1Does anyone have full videos of this

@HawkisRight has posted it I think

@ezasa U might find it interesting..quad members panel in Munich conference... Jaishankar was on a roll..

 

[Tshering22]

The he is a political and economic idiot! Getting Russia on your side is not an empty words. You have to agree with Russia's influence sphere which includes Ukraine. If you give up Ukraine, then what will other eastern Europe countries think? Then what will the rest of world think: a group of countries can't even protect their neighbors.

Economically, China is Russia's top one trading partner in 2020 (Export - $49.061 B). How Europe intends to compensate this amount if she wants Russia on her side?

You need to see this from the German perspective. The Germans have seen Erdogan burn his hands (and his country) by overtly opposing the US-led initiatives. While Turkey is relatively a minuscule economy, Germany has much more at stake.

Also, Germany is completely integrated with the US; they cannot say "No" to the Americans beyond a superficial level. Their economy, security, trade, arms partnerships, etc. are all conjoined with the Americans and the only reason why Germany is as powerful as it is today was that it was allowed to, just like Japan. After years of cocooning away from world politics, Germans are not confident about conducting their own smart geopolitics with elements of defence involved in them.

Any transition, if at all, will have to happen very slowly. On top of all this external gameplay, the German public is the same as Japanese public; more American than the Americans themselves.

So they have to walk the tightrope between 3 stakeholders:

1) The Anglophone-led NATO++
2) China-led Eastern bloc 2.0
3) Its own citizens' perception

and slowly change their public perception.

Merkel was a US puppet despite the media's gushing about her being "the most powerful woman politician" and all. Olaf is too new and is expect to stay in line. Let's see how smart he is in gradually weaning himself away from the US-centric geopolitics. Chances are that he would listen to Macron at this stage who is the leading voice for an EU-led independent approach.

 

[arnabmit]

Jaishankar is quite savage with his replies in such forums. He calls out the hypocrisy of the west in an concise and articulate manner which cannot be refuted.

Also an indication that the atrocity literature that west could use earlier is turning against it with civilizational nations like ours calling them out.

India’s Stance on Ukraine Leaves West Scrambling As Jaishankar Calls Out Hypocrisy, Slams China - News18

The course of the conversation indicates that the agenda was to show India’s position on Ukraine as two-faced, a trap Dr Jaishankar dismantled bit by bit.

www.news18.com

 

[Tshering22]

Jaishankar is quite savage with his replies in such forums. He calls out the hypocrisy of the west in an concise and articulate manner which cannot be refuted.

Also, an indication that the atrocity literature that the west could use earlier is turning against it with civilizational nations like ours calling them out.

It is quite unfortunate that the CCP sees us as their adversaries. Modern Chinese perception that we are 'an artificial state', has been shoved down the throats of all the Chinese citizens since Mao Ze Dong's rule.

In a bid to create enemies to ensure internal unity, Mao sacrificed 25 centuries of trust overnight. Nehru added fuel to the fire with his idiotic policies.

If only the Chinese administration was not stuck with the 19th-century mentality of annexing our lands, we could have been one hell of an alliance. But then again, CCP's China is not the civilizational China that was our friend for over 2,500 years. That China is now Taiwan.

 

[ezsasa]

A good articulation on India's foreign policy balancing by Kunal Singh
======
A thread on Indian position on Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why it is not a puzzle and actually eminently defensible. First, the near-term pragmatism: presence of thousands of Indian students in Ukraine.

We saw this in Yemen. Good relations with both parties in the conflict, and especially the aggressor, helped in the evacuation of Indian citizens. If required, India would try to leverage its relationship with Russia to do the same.

Second-- and everyone and their uncle have already said this-- Russia is India's pre-eminent arms supplier. It is not just any commercial relationship that can be easily substitutable. Russia supplies to India stuff that is not offered by anyone else: SSN, S-400, you name it.

The US would like India to buy less from Russia but wouldn't offer the top of the line technology. New Delhi has also sees how other states who have relied on America have seen their security decline: South Korea and Taiwan come to top of mind. Want to add Ukraine?

Third, this is how India does its foreign policy regardless of who is in power. This Yogesh Joshi thread shows how India has repeatedly sided with Russia/Soviet Union even though it has expressed displeasure privately.

Want more evidence? Look at India's position on the coup in Myanmar. It continues to engage the Tatmadaw because significant Indian interests are at stake-- insurgents in the Northeast. India also thinks private persuasion is more effective than publicly calling out.

Fourth, the current party in power is BJP, a right-of-centre party. Its opposition, mostly to its left, consists of parties which oppose America, not Russia. Rahul Gandhi has only tweeted saying that the govt should bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine.

Except for Shashi Tharoor, who is often a lone wolf in his own party, no body is really asking the Modi govt to condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine. Contrast that to the pressure Vajpayee govt felt during US invasion of Iraq. When the govt demurred in condemning the US a top Congress leader called India "a lap-dog" of the US. Vajpayee was forced to come clean when he said: "India will never become a lackey of even the most powerful country in the world." No such domestic political pressure exists today on non-condemnation of Russia.

The fifth, and final, one may not be so much what the Indian govt is thinking but these are my half-developed thoughts. If the US is so heavily invested in stopping Putin, then it might not be the best partner in balancing China. There is a massive debate in the US that President Biden will have to eventually choose between Russia and China. If he chooses to fight Russia, America's utility to India will be served by status quo-- military exercises, some arms supply, intelligence sharing.

If Biden chooses to fight China, India's position on Ukraine wouldn't matter much once the news cycle has changed.

I am writing all this as someone who has always advocated close India-US ties. But the US position on some of this is unreasonable: getting distracted in Europe and not focusing on Indo-Pacific, asking India to not buy Russian hardware but not offering comparable systems. One can understand why Indian leaders would be afraid of taking the big leap. END

 

[ezsasa]

foreign policy masterclass by former FS & NSA Shivshankar Menon

 

[Kumata]

the way the moderator came out swinging at EAM right at the start was most disrespectful, but when you see her career profile lynn kuok ( brookings - singapore - iisc - shangri la dialogue) it's more than a trifecta, all of them favour china.

on the four questions, apparently this is a technique used to put the other party on the defensive, was looking at it last month to check if this technique has a name, so far no success. we notice this quite frequenly used by BBC when it comes to interviewing anyone from BJP. i doubt anyone else from our side could have handled it well, other than jai shankar. she was not adversarial to any of the other panelists.

Spot on observation nibba... I was searching for words and my age ensured that my vocabulary is deep down there.....thanks for helping...

He is carrer diplomat and would have faced such googlies on hourly basis. No doubt she choose to move on very early... Moreover the Brown man syndrome is pretty evident on her monkey face...

 

[Kumata]

India’s Stance on Ukraine Leaves West Scrambling As Jaishankar Calls Out Hypocrisy, Slams China - News18

The course of the conversation indicates that the agenda was to show India’s position on Ukraine as two-faced, a trap Dr Jaishankar dismantled bit by bit.

www.news18.com

As a follow up to her question on China and the West’s ties with India, the panel moderator sought to assert that India strengthened bilateral relations with Quad members “at the very least” as a post-Galwan answer to China but Dr Jaishankar reminded the audience that the “incarnation of the Quad” started in 2017 and that it is not a post-2020 development. India’s relations with the Quad partners “have steadily improved in the last 20 years,” he said, adding, “Again, as I said, you are making it seem like cause-and-effect. I would challenge that.”

The entire course of the conversation indicates that the agenda at hand was to show India’s position on the Russia-Ukraine tensions as hypocritical and manoeuvre India into perceivably admitting the same. Lynn Kuok, who comes from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank, sought to do her job first by posing a direct question on whether India believed in “different principles for different parts of the world” and when that did not throw Dr Jaishankar off, she seemingly sought to establish the notion that the West had done undue favours for India in the Indo-Pacific and so, in turn, India should return the love in Europe. But that ‘trap’ too did not reap any success with India’s astute foreign minister.

Words are the weapon of a diplomat, especially a foreign minister- and how he or she wields them can make or break a country’s justification of its foreign policy stands. Any unsuspecting rookie would have taken the kind of bait laid out for Dr Jaishankar, but his words were calculated to the T and his stand was not compromised at any given time.

 

[pipebomb]

A good articulation on India's foreign policy balancing by Kunal Singh
======
A thread on Indian position on Russian invasion of Ukraine. Why it is not a puzzle and actually eminently defensible. First, the near-term pragmatism: presence of thousands of Indian students in Ukraine.

We saw this in Yemen. Good relations with both parties in the conflict, and especially the aggressor, helped in the evacuation of Indian citizens. If required, India would try to leverage its relationship with Russia to do the same.

Second-- and everyone and their uncle have already said this-- Russia is India's pre-eminent arms supplier. It is not just any commercial relationship that can be easily substitutable. Russia supplies to India stuff that is not offered by anyone else: SSN, S-400, you name it.

The US would like India to buy less from Russia but wouldn't offer the top of the line technology. New Delhi has also sees how other states who have relied on America have seen their security decline: South Korea and Taiwan come to top of mind. Want to add Ukraine?

Third, this is how India does its foreign policy regardless of who is in power. This Yogesh Joshi thread shows how India has repeatedly sided with Russia/Soviet Union even though it has expressed displeasure privately.

Want more evidence? Look at India's position on the coup in Myanmar. It continues to engage the Tatmadaw because significant Indian interests are at stake-- insurgents in the Northeast. India also thinks private persuasion is more effective than publicly calling out.

Fourth, the current party in power is BJP, a right-of-centre party. Its opposition, mostly to its left, consists of parties which oppose America, not Russia. Rahul Gandhi has only tweeted saying that the govt should bring back Indian citizens from Ukraine.

Except for Shashi Tharoor, who is often a lone wolf in his own party, no body is really asking the Modi govt to condemn Russian invasion of Ukraine. Contrast that to the pressure Vajpayee govt felt during US invasion of Iraq. When the govt demurred in condemning the US a top Congress leader called India "a lap-dog" of the US. Vajpayee was forced to come clean when he said: "India will never become a lackey of even the most powerful country in the world." No such domestic political pressure exists today on non-condemnation of Russia.

The fifth, and final, one may not be so much what the Indian govt is thinking but these are my half-developed thoughts. If the US is so heavily invested in stopping Putin, then it might not be the best partner in balancing China. There is a massive debate in the US that President Biden will have to eventually choose between Russia and China. If he chooses to fight Russia, America's utility to India will be served by status quo-- military exercises, some arms supply, intelligence sharing.

If Biden chooses to fight China, India's position on Ukraine wouldn't matter much once the news cycle has changed.

I am writing all this as someone who has always advocated close India-US ties. But the US position on some of this is unreasonable: getting distracted in Europe and not focusing on Indo-Pacific, asking India to not buy Russian hardware but not offering comparable systems. One can understand why Indian leaders would be afraid of taking the big leap. END

Well these RAND_s clearly don't have a problem with accomodating Germany's natural gas requirements but ask us to forego our defence needs