The Republic of India, capital at New Delhi, is an important country in Asia with 1,450,000,000 people (very smart and hard working people), the 7th largest country on the planet by land mass with a Federal parliamentary democratic republic. It has the 5th largest Gross Domestic Product and speaks 23 different languages with the predominant languages being Hindi and English.
India has a fairly potent military — a military that has 170 nuclear warheads and is the 2nd largest globally — with 2,600,000 men under arms in all branches including a modern army, a coastal brown water navy (though they have an aircraft, submarines, and a nuclear vessel) and a competent air force. They produce 65% of their own armaments and import — primarily from Russia — the balance.
The US should have a great relationship with India first because it is a gigantic democratic republic, but also because it is a bulwark strategically to China and would provide a real problem for China in a shooting war.
Ahh, dear reader, the problem is that India is buying gobs of oil from Russia and its ghost fleet of decrepit tankers.
1. Pre-Ukraine War and post-Pandemic, India imported less than 0.5% of its crude oil from Russia. They imported all of their oil from Mideaster countries including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
They had a $11.5B import trade level with Russia primarily fertilizer, chemicals, machinery, and weaponry.
2. When Russia invaded innocent Ukraine, India took advantage of Russia’s lost European business and began importing as much as 40% of all Indian oil imports from Russia.
Oil revenues are the largest share of Russian government funding and effectively funded and funds their attack on Ukraine.
3. The tempation to buy oil from Russia is gigantic as Russian Urals Crude sells at a meaningful discount to the market value with some discounts being as large as 30% off the quoted price.
It is difficult to buy Russian oil as it is transported in ghost ships — small, ancient, uninsured tankers, that travel without their transponders live, but the discount makes it worth the effort.
Yes, he is. President Trump says the US will impose tariffs as high as 50% and the US Congress is working on a Russian sanctions bill that would make punitive tariffs as high as 500%.
I believe this is the main reason why War Criminal Putin asked to meet with President Trump in Alaska. It is my considered opinion the Orc economy is on the precipice of collapse and that a cessation of or material impact on oil revenue might just collapse the whole thing.
Sure, dear reader.
India has lost its moral compass and is profiteering from cheap Russian oil and is directly funding the continuing unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
This is inconsistent with the national character of India.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
