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in a recent move, the Biden administration asked Congress for $40 billion to support Ukraine. This is not the only major aid given to the conflict-driven Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy never misses an opportunity to speak on global forums and showcase his excellent skills as an “eloquent” speaker. Since the beginning of the conflict, the US has aided Ukraine, both financially and militarily. However, the United States is not the sole proponent; the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, France, and Italy make their contribution with sophisticated military equipment, making a prudent effort to safeguard the territorial integrity of Ukraine. However, the spillover effect of the conflict made some offshoots – on 4th April 2023 during a scheduled summit, Finland formally became a member of NATO. While Hungry &Turkey were not so eager to bring Finland on board. Although Finland held the principle of neutrality between (Moscow) and the West during the decades of the Cold War; In other words called ‘Finlandization’. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said Moscow would respond to Finland becoming a NATO member by bolstering its defenses. The said word “bolstering its defenses” followed its action with “Tactical” nuclear weapons moved to Belarus.
Another bad outcome of the conflict is the scarcity of grain, as Ukraine produces around 10 percent of the world’s grain and is called the BreadBasket of Europe. It has become a matter of concern as Russia decided to walk away from the United Nations Black Sea Grain Initiative.
Does the United States support Ukraine only to restore freedom and human rights? Or something else; The current era of global politics works more complicated than the erstwhile 20th-century bipolar world, during the Cold War. The “muscle memory” of the United States still works to weaken the present, “multi-polar world”. The most fatal measure taken by the United States & its allies is to weaken the economy of Russia, in doing so, they have frozen the assets of Russia’s central bank in their countries. Major Russian banks have been removed from the international financial messaging system, SWIFT delaying payment for Russian oil and gas. But the International Monetary Fund believes Russia’s economy could grow by 0.7% in 2023. This is because Russia is exporting millions of barrels of oil a day, and selling it at discounted rates to its “Global South” allies – India and China. To make the Russian economy less volatile, trade between India and Russia will be performed under the scheme of International Trade Settlement in Indian Rupees through the special Rupee Vostro Account system. While the Western countries want India to decrease its reliance on imports to isolate Moscow over the Ukraine war. The present Government of India gets hold of its robust, “self-interest” policy with strong statements to take the Western world out of its
paradisiacal world.
In the GLOBSEC 2022, Bratislava Forum, the Minister of External Affairs of India remarked that ‘Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe’s problems are the world’s problem but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problem’. India has a special primacy in the conflict, as Ukraine’s president seeks India’s help with implementing the, “Ten Point Peace Plan”. India kept its non-aligned outlook and believed “Dialogue and diplomacy” are the only measures to end the war. However, India’s stance can be anticipated with India’s G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant said that the Ukraine war was not on India’s list of priorities for outcomes from its presidency. In September, India will host the next G20 summit. India can further take measures for its capacity to be a responsible power. Indian officials had spoken on many forums about the economic impact and threat to food security in many global south countries. Russia’s unfortunate decision not to renew the Turkish–brokered grain deal has once again spiked the prices of food in the global south. In the last month, the Russia–Africa summit kicked off with Russia vowed to provide free grain supplies for six African countries.
According to the pledge, 25000-50,000 tons of grain will be sent in the coming months. The Ukraine war is a trial for Russia-India bilateral relations, and the conflict is here to stay for a while, the role that suits India is to keep aligned with its interest in making the world multipolar as, Russia’s dependence on China would rise manifolds, and Russia won’t be in a position to speak for India.
These pieces are being published as they have been received – they have not been edited/fact-checked by ThePrint.