Laut Quellen schlägt die indische Zentralbank vor, die digitalen Währungen der BRICS-Staaten zu verknüpfen

I’ve observed for years now that that there is a lot of ignorance in the Western world about where India stands geopolitically, and much of it is willful ignorance from people who’ve already made up their mind that *“India’s playing both sides and deserves this“* and don’t care to learn the underlying facts. So let me get this off my chest:

India has always tried to be a „neutral“ country that avoided getting into security pacts and geopolitical camps. It also tried to maintain good relations with countries the West despises, like Russia and Iran. But it has been a „neutral“ country in the same sense as Switzerland in that economically, culturally and even geopolitically it clearly leans more towards the West than towards countries like Russia, which it has little in common with other than trade.

Trump is now threatening this relationship. What Europe is now experiencing is what India’s already been experiencing since last year. It may not be a true ally of America, but America is using that as an excuse to treat it worse than it’s treating actual adversaries like China, Russia and Belarus.

The most disappointing thing is the utter lack of sympathy from people who are otherwise upset with Trump’s foreign policy. Too many self-proclaimed supporters of the rules-based world order have actually backed him on imposing the highest tariffs on India and threatening other economic sanctions with no end in sight. And the arguments they use are always insincere and hypocritical, born of willful ignorance.

– India isn’t „cozying up“ to China; unlike, say, Canada, it’s still not accepted the olive branch Xi Jinping offered after Trump turned on them. It still hasn’t sought a trade pact with or opened up to investment from China; and for years it’s resisted attempts by China and BRICS to set up an alternative to the US dollar-backed financial system(unlike Saudi Arabia which has already accepted). It has also continued engaging with the Quad, unlike, say, Australia, who quit in 2007 to avoid antagonising China(before rejoining later).

– It’s not cozying up to Russia either; it just declined a long-term oil supply contract and major defence deals proposed by Putin during his visit last month. It bought Russian oil mainly because of economic needs, being the world’s second largest oil importer after China. And other American allies have had far more engagement with Russia relative to their size, like Turkey(a NATO member) which has now replaced India as the second-largest buyer of Russian oil.

– And yet India’s been singled out for this treatment, while countries that are supposedly genuine allies of the West like Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have been allowed to do whatever they want with Russia and China. The hypocrisy is obvious to anyone who actually looks at the facts in perspective, which few do.

This year is likely going to be make-or-break for US-India relations and determine their future trajectory for decades. If India concludes that the tariffs aren’t coming down, that it has nothing left to lose from American hostility and nothing to gain by accomodating American interests, it will turn into a „neutral“ power in the truest sense.

– So gradually it will leave America out of any opportunities for major defence purchases(having the 4th largest armed forces in the world after Russia’s), it’ll leave American companies out of plans to exploit its rare earth reserves(the 5th largest in the world) and oil reserves(over 90% of which are unexplored) and it will shut American companies out of its large consumer market and infrastructure plans, the fastest growing after China’s. The lost opportunities over decades will be valued in the trillions of dollars, far greater than any tax revenue America gains from tariffs on Indian goods.

– It will also no longer feel the need to prop up the American financial system; that is, it will gradually convert its $700 billion foreign exchange reserves to other currencies, stop buying American bonds(it’s already divesting its existing holdings) and back non-dollar payment systems with its trading partners. This won’t hurt America today, but the long-term implications of the world’s second *and* third largest economies propping up financial alternatives to America will be enormous, particularly in 20 years when India has an economy comparable to what China has today.