This is American arrogance at its worst.

I am on record saying @narendramodi should be far more vocal and forceful in opposing Putin's behavior. He has called on Putin to stop the war, and has said the war was on the wrong side of history.

But...they just can't go all the way.
India has a 70 year history of non-alignment...a philosophy that says they don't take sides in the long running Cold War.

Now, the Cold War is over. But India can't break out of that mentality.

But there are other key issues.
India for decades only bought Russian military goods, because the US wouldn't sell to them. In the past two decades that has changed; in fact, India is one of the largest purchaser of American military goods.

But legacy costs remain.

indiatoday.in/diu/story/how-…
India has tried to become self reliant, but that is a long, long road. They still don't have the tech for items like Russian S-400 Triumf air defence system or the Akula-class nuclear-powered attack submarine.

orfonline.org/expert-speak/t…
Lets note that US law PROHIBITS the Indians from buying submarines...which basically means Russia is the only option.

indiatoday.in/india-today-in…
All of this comes with the reality that China has invaded India several times. Their military expansion drives much of India's military and foreign policy choices.

Until the US decides to help India in that regard, there is no reason India is going to sell out the Russians.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Pradheep J. Shanker

Pradheep J. Shanker Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Neoavatara

Mar 3
So is that bad? That seems bad.

#DeadCatBounce Image
Russia is imploding the likes we've not seen...ever.

Even the Greece economic collapse looks pale by comparison.

This is what Greece looks like since the economic collapse...and they had the help of the West to recover.

Russia is looking at a generational era of poverty. Image
Read 6 tweets
Mar 2
Russian Troop Deaths Expose a Potential Weakness of Putin’s Strategy nytimes.com/2022/03/01/us/…
First real estimate I've seen that I can kind of trust:

"Ukraine has said its forces have killed more than 5,300 Russian troops...one American official put the Russian losses as of Monday at 2,000, an estimate with which two European officials concurred."
Lets remember that in the entire Crimea campaign, Russia lost 400 soldiers.

The impact of those deaths were so worrisome to Putin, he had any reporter that actually stated that number publicly arrested, and many funerals were not allowed to be filmed.
Read 5 tweets
Feb 21
Gee, I wonder why?

New York City parents pulling their children from public schools in record numbers hotair.com/jazz-shaw/2022…
These numbers are NOT BLIPS:

"Manhattan’s District 2...down 17% from two years ago. They lost 2,500 of 16,400 kids. Brooklyn’s District 15 (in AOC’s home turf) dropped 16%. Enrollment at Chelsea’s PS 11 fell by 170 students, a plunge of 17%. Other examples abound."
Lets note that voucher opponents have long made the argument that losing 10% of students to private schools would be devastating to public schools.

Well...if you believe their rhetoric...then these schools are doomed. Right?
Read 4 tweets
Feb 20
Don't compare Trudeau with Putin...or either with Hitler.

Those are silly comparisons.

Trudeau is a run-of-the-mill progressive who thinks the power of the state is bad...unless HE is in power.

Putin is a thug and dictator.

Hitler...is Hitler.
Trudeau is harder to define and attack because of that nuance. I bet if he wasn't in power, he'd oppose some of the measures he is now using...especially if the partisan leanings were flipped.
This ultimately gets down to the question is how much free expression are we going to guarantee?

Clearly violent protests should be shut down quickly; that is the lesson 2020. We delayed acting because of fear of overreacting, and were worse off for it.
Read 7 tweets
Feb 18
This is an incredible accomplishment. I don't think many outsiders realize how incredible.
Lets also note that there is no vaccine mandate here.

This is simply a health care system focused on evidence based results, and providing the vaccine as quickly and easily as possible...and a public that trusts them enough to take the shot.

time.com/6148101/india-…
I for one question if the number is really 80% (my guess it is closer to 60-65%) but still, given the immensity of the task, impressive.
Read 5 tweets
Feb 17
Trudeau et al are exceptionally stupid. They knew the convoy was coming long before it showed up.
Even after they got to Ottawa, they could have physically removed them. It would not have been painless, but it would've been defensible.

Their actions now are not defensible.
Lot of Americans may not realize this...but public sentiment of Canadians are with Trudeau. Even the majority of truckers support shutting down the convoys.

But somehow, someway, Trudeau is still losing the fight.

washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/…
More on the Canadian public...

cnn.com/2022/02/15/pol…
Read 6 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(