The Indian government leader Narendra Modi (right) and Gautam Adani, head of the ‘Adani Group’.
One of the most critical economic partners of Russia amid the unprecedented Western economic sanctions from Washington and the EU over the Ukraine war has been the Indian government of BJP leader Narendra Modi, writes well-known international observer William Engdahl, a strategic risk consultant and lecturer, who holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics.
In the past several years Modi, playing a delicate balancing act between alliances with Russia and also with the West, has emerged as a vital trade partner of Russia amid the sanctions. Despite repeated efforts by Biden Administration and UK officials, Modi has refused to join sanctions against Russian trade, above all oil trade.
Now a series of suspiciously-timed and targeted events suggest that there is an Anglo-American destabilization being launched to topple Modi in the coming months.
India is a vital ally of Russia through its participation among other things in the so-named BRICS group of nations. The BRICS is the acronym for an informal group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It is a loose gathering of five of the most dynamic states of the non-OECD nations, mostly of the South.
India under BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly refused to join Washington in condemning Russia’s Ukraine actions. It has defied US sanctions on Russian oil buying, despite repeated US threats of consequences. In addition to being a fellow BRICS member, India is also a major long-time buyer of Russian defense equipment.
Modi is facing a national election in Spring 2024, and important regional ones this year, that will determine his future.
A clear Anglo-American assault on Modi and his key financial backer was launched. A shadowy Wall Street financial firm, ‘Hindenburg Research’,.. targeted an Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani, head of the Adani Group and at the time reportedly the richest man in Asia. Adani also happens to be the major financial backer of Modi.
At the same month that the suspiciously-timed ‘Hindenburg’ expose of Adani appeared, in January, 2023 the British government-owned BBC released a TV documentary alleging Modi’s role two decades ago in 2002 in religious riots in Gujarat when he was governor there. The BBC report, which has been banned in India, was based on unpublished intelligence given to BBC by the UK Foreign Office.
Refusing to join NATO sanctions against Russia, and maintaining a strict principle of neutrality as it has done since the Cold War era, Modi has taken advantage of availability of Russian crude oil that the US and EU now refuse.
Russia is now the biggest supplier of crude oil to India overtaking Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In December, India bought 1.2 million barrels of crude from Russia every day – a whopping 33 times more than a year earlier. Ironically, some of that Russian oil is being refined in India and re-exported to the EU, which just banned Russian oil. According to energy analysts, “India is buying record amounts of severely discounted Russian crude, running its refiners above nameplate capacity, and capturing the economic rent of sky-high crack spreads and exporting gasoline and diesel to Europe.”
Before the start of the Ukraine war, India bought only 1% of Russia’s crude. That figure went up to 28% in January… If we add imports of Russian fertilizers and sunflower oil and other products, India’s imports from Russia climbed more than 400% in eight months to November from a year earlier.
As further indication that Washington and London seek regime change in India, George Soros, speaking on February 17 at the annual Munich Security Conference, declared, ominously, that, in effect, Modi’s days are numbered. The 92-year old Soros stated, “India is an interesting case. It’s a democracy, but its leader Narendra Modi is no democrat.”
Soros has been involved in every Color Revolution since the 1980’s including in Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Yeltsin’s 1990s rape of Russia, in Iran, against Orban’s Hungary, and countless other countries not playing by the free market “democracy” agenda of Washington. That is a matter of open record.
Expect the coming months to signal a massive escalation of Western dirty trick operations to try to topple Modi and weaken the BRICS group of countries that are increasingly trying to oppose the dictates of Washington and Davos globalists, stresses William Engdahl.
The American short-selling firm ‘Hindenburg Research’’s shocking allegations of stock manipulation and money laundering against the Adani Group of companies rocked India for close to a fortnight, writes M.K. Bhadrakumar Indian Ambassador and prominent international observer. The matter has gone to India’s Supreme Court via a public interest litigation seeking probe against Hindenburg “for exploiting innocent investors.”
Adani flagged that the ‘Hindenburg’ report was a “calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India.” And they (the West) are returning to mercantilist foreign policies. Neo-mercantilist strategies — regime change, sanctions, brigandage, etc. — have roared back to the centerstage.
Now, India refuses to be part of the Euro-Atlantic agenda in shaping the 21st century world order. The Euro-Atlantic world is upset about it. Financiers like George Soros feel like beached whales in the Indian conditions because a huge financial market is inaccessible for rapacious exploitation.
Who else but Adani, a self-made man, would have the audacity to successfully bid for Haifa, Israel’s largest port city? Simply put, Adani Group has established a strategic foothold for India in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Adani’s concession period in Haifa extends to 2054. His plans are to create a skyline for Haifa city, make it a hub for AI technology, and to expand India’s Mediterranean footprint and foray into the European market.
Haifa regularly hosts joint US-Israeli naval drills and visits from American vessels. With the decline of the US Sixth Fleet, US strategic interests demand forward-deployment of US Navy ships in Haifa port. No Indian corporate house every aspired to create an audacious global footprint of this kind.
Make no mistake, Adani is already on a comeback trail. In a critical article, ‘Haaretz’ newspaper reported, “The United Arab Emirates, which has been a major backer of Adani’s for the past several years… announced immediately after ‘Hindenburg Research’ released its report that it would pick up a $400 million stake in a since-cancelled Adani Enterprises’ share sale — indicating that the Indian businessman enjoys support for his plans beyond Israel.”
…Again? Now Anglo-Saxons intend to change the policy of India and its elected leader at the same time. Should we wait for a serious response from Delhi?
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