As in do something performative that attacks some aspect of Russian revenue in order to get the US to reduce tariffs.
Russia is India’s most important trading partner, and this has remained true for nearly a century. They simply cannot afford to ‘hurt’ Russian revenue even if they wanted to.
Honestly, this
constant kowtowing to the USA, and clear recalcitrance towards anything meaningfully anti-imperial.
is a western fever dream that isn’t backed by anything
But after a lot of reading, it looks a lot like India is charting it’s own development course that stays very clearly away from being a junior partner to the US. There are major economic ties, with the US buying 20% of India’s total exports, but everywhere I looked I saw US journalists and US politicians vastly overstating how much India was working with them, and I saw so much evidence of India playing politics while maintaining its sovereignty, maintaining its autonomy, and using the US and Europe to develop its indigenous productive forces.
So, Modi may be a hindu nationalist and stoking division with Muslims, but you’re right about foreign policy and trade and you forced me to reevaluate my propaganda-based perspective on India. Thanks for that.
I am not being sarcastic. Your push back created the opportunity for me to go gather my sources to prove my points and instead I learned that I was wrong.
India’s resources and industrial commodities are disproportionately tied to Russia in comparison to any other country. For example, it imports as much oil from Russia as it does from OPEC and US combined. To emphasize this point, India is the second largest importer of petrol (probably the highest importer of energy products by far); energy scarcity is a huge problem for them. Indian steel as another example has been hurt by Trump’s tariffs, but turning on Russia would mean literally killing their steel industry altogether just to have the chance to regain the 25% or whatever it lost from trade with the US.
Yes, India exports the most to the US but there is no shortage of markets wanting to import low cost goods and customer support. Harming Russia would not be in their interest at all. There also the question of historical ties with Russia that are much stronger than any relationship with the US.
India’s place in global geopolitics is complex and unfortunately, Modi, a fascist demon, has not particularly veered the country towards western alliances and if anything has done more to deepen ties with China and Russia than previous PMs in the past 30 years.
Russia is India’s most important trading partner, and this has remained true for nearly a century. They simply cannot afford to ‘hurt’ Russian revenue even if they wanted to.
Honestly, this
is a western fever dream that isn’t backed by anything
You know what? I’m sure you already know this - you’re right.
Here’s what I found to support my position:
https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/topstories/india-may-let-us-foreign-firms-bid-for-big-government-contracts-sources-say/ar-AA1Fkxc4 (2025)
https://www.cfr.org/article/divergence-despite-convergence-united-states-india-strategic-partnership-and-defense-norms (2025)
https://jacobin.com/2024/05/india-neoliberalism-modi-hindu-authoritarianism (2024)
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/india-israel-seek-to-further-strengthen-defence-ties/articleshow/122869823.cms (2025)
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/1/15/indias-modi-gives-warm-welcome-to-israels-netanyahu (2018)
But after a lot of reading, it looks a lot like India is charting it’s own development course that stays very clearly away from being a junior partner to the US. There are major economic ties, with the US buying 20% of India’s total exports, but everywhere I looked I saw US journalists and US politicians vastly overstating how much India was working with them, and I saw so much evidence of India playing politics while maintaining its sovereignty, maintaining its autonomy, and using the US and Europe to develop its indigenous productive forces.
So, Modi may be a hindu nationalist and stoking division with Muslims, but you’re right about foreign policy and trade and you forced me to reevaluate my propaganda-based perspective on India. Thanks for that.
Are you being sarcastic? I commend you if you’re not but if you are I can discuss this with you in more detail.
I am not being sarcastic. Your push back created the opportunity for me to go gather my sources to prove my points and instead I learned that I was wrong.
I truly appreciate you being so self-reflective.
India’s resources and industrial commodities are disproportionately tied to Russia in comparison to any other country. For example, it imports as much oil from Russia as it does from OPEC and US combined. To emphasize this point, India is the second largest importer of petrol (probably the highest importer of energy products by far); energy scarcity is a huge problem for them. Indian steel as another example has been hurt by Trump’s tariffs, but turning on Russia would mean literally killing their steel industry altogether just to have the chance to regain the 25% or whatever it lost from trade with the US.
Yes, India exports the most to the US but there is no shortage of markets wanting to import low cost goods and customer support. Harming Russia would not be in their interest at all. There also the question of historical ties with Russia that are much stronger than any relationship with the US.
India’s place in global geopolitics is complex and unfortunately, Modi, a fascist demon, has not particularly veered the country towards western alliances and if anything has done more to deepen ties with China and Russia than previous PMs in the past 30 years.