New post on Rogue Money “India’s Partnership with Russia is Incomparable”: The Bear Hugs the Elephant by James Russian RussiaIndiaHandshake Last week the Russia Analyst closely detailed the Russia-Turkey Turkstream gas deal, a major coup for the emerging Eurasian trade zone the event Moscow and Ankara can complete the deal in the face of Washington doing what it can to play the spoiler and sow chaos. This week we turn our attention to Moscows growing ties to another linchpin in the Eurasian trade zone, India, with its 1.25 billion people. Unlike our lengthy discussions of Russia and rumors of wars, we promise to keep this article short and sweet. - James Winston Smith Indias partnership with Russia is incomparable. Thus tweeted the elected leader of the worlds largest democracy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week. The all smiles photograph accompanying the PMs tweet says it all, and also sends a message to Washington were moving on without you. India is still relying on the US for most of its new arms purchases, but is also still planning to buy fighter jets from France. Diplomatic and military cooperation with Moscow, dating back to the days of the Non-Aligned Movement which India led and US reliance on Indias Muslim rival Pakistan during the Cold War, had atrophied in recent years. Thats according to retired Indian diplomat MK Bhadrakumar. The Turn of India to Eurasia While the Russia Analyst is no South Asia or Middle East expert, it is to Mr. Bhadrakumars Asia Times columns that we look for an Indian take on world events. Clearly while Mr. Bhadrakumar enjoys being out of government and thus able to speak freely, his sympathies and those of former diplomat colleagues he keeps in touch with are clearly towards India exercising independence and economically linking itself with rising Eurasia. As a country that has suffered immensely from sectarian divides and religious extremism, the Indians are acutely sensitive to how Washington cynically plays the Sunni-Shia card in the Middle East to divide and rule, and also to the fraudulent war on ISIS. The Indians are keenly aware that Washington looked the other way at Saudi-funded Wahhabism for years and that Iran and the Kurds have done more damage to the super-terrorist group than the U.S. has managed with all of its military and intelligence assets. An Indian Army T-90S Bhishma main battle tank. India is building 235 T-90s domestically under license for over a billion dollars. An Indian Army T-90S Bhishma main battle tank. India is building 235 T-90s domestically under license for over a billion dollars. Russia as Indias Armorer The stage was set well before President Putins visit this week for a major breakthrough and flurry of multi-billion dollar deals between Moscow and Delhi. Indian government spokesmen affirmed that Russia, which has historically been Indias most important arms supplier since independence from Great Britain, will remain the countrys top armorer in the future. The countries are already cooperating on building a 5th generation, long range stealthy fighter jet together, the T-50 Golden Eagle (Berkut). Russias fast, high-firepower T-90 main battle tank is already manufactured by license in India under the T-90M Bhishma name. As is Russias Sukhoi 30MKI 4th and a half generation strike fighter -- a warplane equipped with Israeli avionics that the Russian Air Force was so impressed with, it ordered 30 for its own fleet. The Su-30MKI by the way, is the same Indian Air Force jet that the Guerrilla Economist has pointed out mopped the floor with US F-15s in simulated air combat exercises a few years ago. The Indians routed the visiting Americans in 2004 so badly that the USAF was quick to point out it agreed to being outnumbered by the hosts 3 to 1 in engagements, in order to explain the ridiculously lopsided 9 to 1 loss ratio to the Indian red team which was not entirely equipped with Su30s but also older 4th generation MiG-29 and Mirage 2000 jets. Malaysia also has similar Sukhoi 30MKMs that gave the USAFs F-22 drivers a run for their money in recent exercises. Affordable Russian/Indian Helicopters and Cheap Nuclear Energy -- All Things Africa, Eurasia and Latin America Need During Putins visit, Russia and India agreed to manufacture 400 Kamov twin-engine dual rotating helicopters for Indias armed forces, with export potential baked into the deal. The move is shrewd for both sides, allowing Russia to take advantage of low cost Indian manufacturing while both sides are poised to dominate the African civilian and military helicopter market. Days after Putin had concluded his bombshell business deal with Ankara, which included Russian built and fueled nuclear reactors, there were reports of a pending megadeal for civilian nuclear energy with India too. As it stands today, Moscow and Delhi have agreed to build 12 nuclear reactors together, with Russias state-owned Rosatom supplying the fuel for decades to come. By building common reactor designs for Turkey, Iran and India, Rosatom is allowing its customers to take advantage of the Wal-Mart or Costco principal of buying in bulk. The merchandise in this case, being nuclear energy that will allow Turkey to burn less imported fossil fuels and Iran to refine oil and keep more natural gas available for export to the Indian and Eurasian markets. Supply chain chart from RosAtoms website Supply chain chart from RosAtoms website. RosAtom has 17% of the current global nuclear fuel market, a number that is likely to grow with a proposed peaceful enrichment deal with Iran as part of the US-Iranian pact to solve the standoff over Tehrans nuclear program Provided Partnership and Intellectual Property Issues Can Be Worked Out -- Russia/India/China Poised to Dominate Global Nuclear Energy Market Producing reactors that can produce electricity cheaply and even be floated on barges offshore from Indias incredibly crowded coastal cities like Mumbai once again gives Russian-Indian joint ventures the inside track on supplying nuclear energy to African nations like Nigeria, Angola or Ethiopia. Rosatom -- yet another part of the reviving industrial base President Barack Obama recently derided, saying Russia doesnt build anything -- now boasts that it has $100 billion in orders that it will fulfill over the next ten years. That staggering number comes from Rosatom CEO Sergey Kiriyenko, speaking to the Interfax News Agency. In fact, when one looks at the levels of dominance Russia could reach together with China and India in the global nuclear power market and connects the dots, its no wonder certain Congressmen representing districts where the US nuclear industry is a strong player are furious with Russia. This fury at lost markets and declining geopolitical influence, combined with pandering to certain constituencies and out of state neocon donors, is pushing the idiots in Congress toward aggressive sanctions and arms subsidized by the American taxpayer for Ukraine. Frances Areva and Japans nuclear energy conglomerates Mitsui and Mitsubishi -- the latter battered immensely by the Fukushima fallout both literal and financial at home -- are also stuck playing catch up. Russias Role in the Eurasian Trade Zone and New Global Economy -- Going Big While the US Goes Home As the Leningrad-born Russian-American analyst Dmitry Orlov says, the Russians cannot compete with Germans for machine tools, or Chinese for cheap electronics. But they can do the big projects: things like building highways through steep Caucauses Mountains to Sochi, railroads along the New Silk Road through the former Soviet Stans, and constructing huge booster rockets and nuclear reactor complexes very well. Perhaps by the mid-21st century the Russians with the Chinese will be world leaders in mining near-Earth asteroids too. This is a niche that will prove very profitable for Moscow in the decades to come, as China, India and the African nations work to bring billions of people out of poverty into a global middle class, and will need to generate trillions if not quadrillions of kilowatt hours to do so. This is the long term play that Putin is pursuing, while announcing that the India-Russia deals will be settled in rubles and rupees -- an agreement that was announced as in the works in August. As Dr. Jim Willie says, watch for US Treasuries to be used (read: dumped) over the next few years to finance the initial physical infrastructure behind these deals -- including the Kamov 226 and Hindustan Aeronatics joint assembly line in India. Further reading: India Strengthens its Strategic Partnership with Russia Vineyard of the Saker 20 Deals in 24 Hours: Russia-India Relations Given $100 Billion-Worth Boost Rajeev Sharma, RT Vladimir Putin and Indian PM Nahendri Modi enjoying a leisurely stroll before announcing mega-deals during the Russian leaders visit to India this week Vladimir Putin and Indian PM Narendra Modi enjoying a leisurely stroll before announcing mega-deals during the Russian leaders visit to India this week (photo by: Indian PMs tweeting staff) James Russian | December 12, 2014 at 8:55 pm | Categories: Featured | URL: wp.me/p3Y1rx-1uk
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 19:24:47 +0000
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