Letter published in the Asian Voice
Alpesh Patel’s article in the Asian Voice( 19 March) on Russia-Ukraine conflict blaming India for sitting on the fence is disingenuous. Let us first look at the genesis of this conflict. As an emerging Gas supplying nation Russia planned a Gas pipeline going through Ukraine, Poland and Germany as its final destination. This raised alarm bells in Washington fearing Russia’s hold on these countries. As there was a pro West government in Ukraine which took the NATO line the Russians planned another pipeline called Nord Stream which went straight from Russia to Germany. Later called Nord Stream 2 this direct pipeline meant Ukraine and Poland would lose billions of dollars in transit which they would have earned with the original pipeline. The US tried to sabotage the Russian connection with Germany by creating a conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Russia on its part was extremely concerned at the deployment of long based, intermediate and short range missiles on its border. Putin has offered to not deploy any missiles as long as NATO did not. NATO has refused to talk about missiles claiming that it is upto individual countries to decide if they want missiles deployed. The negotiations going on to stop the war are making no progress because of NATO’S instrangience. NATO had gambled on the idea that Russia would dare not attack Ukraine fearing a massive US and Western Alliance response. Russia however called their bluff and the US and NATO have decided not to come to Ukraine’s aid. They have essentially made Ukraine a sacrificial lamb. All they are doing is imposing sanctions which are not likely to deter Russia. So it is the US and NATO who are sitting on the fence as their ally Ukraine gets destroyed. India refused to take sides knowing these facts. However it has not set on the fence as PM Modi is making strenuous efforts to stop the war. India has also sent a huge amount of relief aid to Ukraine. Alpesh claims that the West will not forget India’s stand and may change its policy in dealing with India. The West however has not much room to maneuver as it has to choose between an aggressive China and standing by India as the only power which can stop expansionist China. The UK is looking to India for a market of 1.3 billion people post Brexit. The US has had to have a reality check. The old hegemony is under increasing threat from new players on the scene.
Nitin Mehta
Recent Comments