The meeting Friday in Bengaluru is the first major event of India's G20 presidency. India has declined blaming Russia for its invasion of Ukraine & has seeked a diplomatic solution.
Moscow has sent India a list of over 500 products including parts for cars, aircraft and trains for delivery as sanctions squeeze Russia's ability to keep vital industries running.
Ursula von der Leyen, who proposed the fresh sanctions said the European Union is 'determined' to make Russia pay the price for the further escalation with Ukraine.
India’s ongoing trade with Russia, especially imports of crude oil, has been a sore spot with US for months. US Consulate General wrote to Mumbai Port Authority a fortnight ago.
The US, UK, Japan and Canada plan to announce the ban during the G7 summit that started Sunday in Germany. Flows have already been restricted by previous sanctions.
Dictators have higher pain thresholds than democratic leaders, giving all the more reason to keep up pressure and making it harder for Russia to reshape and regroup.
Losing access to Russian diamonds over long term would devastate the industry, jeopardising thousands of jobs in India and hitting major trading centers across the world.
All things considered, might it have been better & cheaper, shed less blood, and avoided a huge refugee problem if Russia had been allowed a buffer zone in Eastern Europe?
Two quotes by historian Toynbee are relevant to current events — that civilisations die by suicide, and that West committed ‘unpardonable aggression’ against non-European nations.
I don’t believe that the US-India relationship has deteriorated beyond repair. There are ways of handling Trump, even if the Pakistanis have outplayed us this year.
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