BRICS & the multi-polar [final] world order.

[Deleted]

BRICS

[TsarSamuil]

[TsarSamuil]

Expert: Russia, China, India Have Greatest Potential to Counterbalance West.

WASHINGTON, September 23 (RIA Novosti) -The bloc of nations of Russia, China and India have the greatest potential to counterbalance the West in the areas where the West presents the greatest strategic threats, in technology, conflict management, and international policy, said Mikhail Troitskiy of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

"In any case, these three nations have the greatest potential [for] rallying other states around their balancing project," said Troitskiy during a Eurasian policy conference at George Washington University on Monday. "The technological and doctrinal innovation by the West has long been a source of concern for Russia, China, and to some extent India, because the ability to innovate and drive the agenda gives the West a certain edge and limits the freedom to maneuver of those powers," he added.

According to Troitskiy, Russia, India, and China have historically "felt challenged by the West" in areas ranging from technical advantages, like space weaponry, to setting international doctrines, like the controversial responsibility to protect doctrine.

In a memo published for the conference, Troitskiy outlined RIC reactions to challenges from the West in four basic ways: asymmetric means, imposing legal constraints, attempting to match or mirror western technologies or doctrines, and cooperation.

These states have "countered Western doctrinal innovation by developing and promoting their own concepts," wrote Troitskiy of the potential for these countries creating a rebalance. "They have argued that the principle of sovereignty is one of the few powerful stabilizers in world politics, together with a balance of forces that prevents the dangerous "hegemony" of any single state," he concluded.

In recent years, Russia, India and China have been the new emerging alliance with Brazil and South Africa, the BRICS. After the latest BRICS summit and creation of a BRICS bank, many experts are speculating that the nations could provide a counterweight to the West. Altogether, the BRICS alliance accounts for 40 percent of the world population and approximately 20 percent of world GDP.

[TsarSamuil]

‘Modi’s India center of multipolar world - this threatens US hegemony’

RT.com
September 29, 2014 11:55

Washington’s hegemonic position is being threatened by a new global movement that is fast becoming reality, with the BRICS group being a very important component of creating a truly multipolar world, Don DeBar, of CPR News, told RT.

On Sept. 26, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in the US for his first official visit after a nine-year visa ban over allegations that he failed to stop anti-Muslim rioting when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. In 2005, he was denied entry to the US under a 1998 law barring entry to foreigners who have committed “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

As part of his five-day trip, Modi addressed the UN General Assembly. He will also meet with the CEOs of 17 multinationals, including Google, Boeing, IBM, PepsiCo and MasterCard, and a have private dinner with US President Barack Obama. Modi’s visit promises to be extremely important for the future development of Indian-US relations.

Modi, in an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal, called the United States India’s “natural global partner.”

However, the trip was overshadowed by a lawsuit from a human rights group that is attempting to hold him ultimately responsible for the 2002 massacre of Muslims in Gujarat. He is accused of standing by, or even encouraging, sectarian violence in Gujarat in 2002, which left over 1,000 people killed.

RT: This weekend PM Modi spoke at the UN General Assembly in New York. But had he not been elected, he wouldn't even be able to set foot in the US, because his visa was revoked in 2005 over the handling of Muslim riots in India. So why now is he seen as such a key partner by US officials?

Don DeBar: It’s not a secret, particularly for people who have been listening at the UN over the past week – there has been a great deal of discussion about it, perhaps more than ever. It’s not a secret that there is a new global construct coming into being and very important component of creating that multipolar world is the BRICS group of countries [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa].

The US sees its hegemonic position, its position as the unitary pole of global power, eroding in front of it. It is attacking at various levels the structure that is emerging – again, BRICS is a central part of it. We have links with the various integration groupings in Latin America – CELAC, the Alba countries, UNASUR. We see the groups that are forming around some of the old Soviet Republics, the ties between Russia and China that are growing exponentially and practically, Chinese investment in Africa, African unity movements – all of this on display over the past months with the BRICS conference in Brazil over the summer.

India is literally at the center of the BRICS countries, and is raising demands at the UN, one of the themes Prime Minister Modi mentioned – many people mentioned it – but he brought it up specifically: India has a billion people and no permanent seat at the Security Council. The entire structure of global governance is feeling a huge push from this new center of gravity forming, and attacking India is one of the ways that the US is using to try to stop this from coming to being.

RT: Modi was slapped with a lawsuit over his alleged role in those deadly religious riots as soon as he arrived in the US. That doesn't happen with world leaders visiting international summits often. How big a blow is this for Modi?

DD: The biggest blow is to US credibility across the world. This is a huge diplomatic faux pas. You don’t serve process in somebody’s lawsuit on a head of state when they are visiting the UN, no less to come together for the General Assembly. Honestly, if I was Modi, and the world could thank God that I’m not, if I had that time at the UN I would have been reading a resolution, proposing an entirely new order, excluding the US, because of this kind of behavior. That’s not what happened – he was much more diplomatic than that.

I don’t even think that he mentioned his own situation within this, other than by a collateral reference to the need for waking it round the world. The US really gets a black eye in the eyes of the world community because it’s a terribly undiplomatic practice.

RT: There's talk about an attempted upgrade in India-US relations. Will the coming meeting between Modi and Obama be more about politics or economics?

DD: They kicked him in the face when he entered in the US and then said, “Come on, let’s have lunch.” Then they will discuss, I guess, there will be an attempt to providing diktat from the US government, or whoever will be sent as a power and will be talking to Modi, saying, “Look, that is what you are going to do – or else.”

I think Modi has already shown us or told us what he plans to do – he is looking for more integration of the global economy on a multipolar, multilateral level. He is actually pursuing that in operating within a framework that he is committed to. That is going to happen much deeply and broadly than before.

He was in Brazil at the conference of the BRICS countries when the new financial structures were announced, for example, that may ultimately replace the IMF and the World Bank. They are certainly now in competition. I think he has shown which way he is going to go in advance – we have got this little political ploy in New York.

RT: What tools Washington is more likely to use in dealing with Modi?

DD: Their primary tool is the drone: they have lawyers and drones, not much else, because they don’t utilize the tools they do have. The US is a great economic power but unfortunately, in terms of their economy, it is mostly at war with itself: the oligarchy is at war with the vast numbers working people here, the middle class has been under attack for 40-50 years to the point of almost non-existence, and it has remained, although heavily indebted to the 1 percent.

So if the US were using those tools, diplomatic tools rather than the kind of behavior they have just exhibited, political tools around the country, around the world, then the US would be very competitive. We have much to offer the world, but all we are offering is military adventures, diktat and exploitative economic relationships. And of course the world doesn’t have to buy that, it isn’t buying it anymore.

[TsarSamuil]

Kazakh president proposes free trade zone with Russia, Iran, other Caspian states.

RT.com
September 29, 2014 14:07

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has suggested establishing a free trade zone involving Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan; all bordering the Caspian Sea and oil-rich.

Nazarbayev suggested the idea at the fourth Caspian Summit, where leaders from the five countries have gathered in Astrakhan, Russia, on Monday.

“Taking into consideration the situation on the world market, we could investigate the possibility of bringing the economies of our countries closer to involve mutual trade. Before regulating the legal status of the Caspian [Sea] we may lay down the foundations for mutual economic activities. I suggest looking into the suggestion of creating a Caspian free trade zone,” Nazarbayev said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

This project "could become one of the first discussions at the government level," Nazarbayev said, adding that the meetings between the heads of state should at least plan to convene once every two years, and also suggested that the 2016 Caspian Summit be held in Kazakhstan.

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov also proposed the creation of a permanent Caspian Economic Forum to hold its meetings alternately in the coastal cities of the Caspian states.

Earlier at Monday’s talks, the five countries signed a joint statement outlining future prospects for regional cooperation.

Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran are all oil-rich countries, Kazakhstan also has substantial oil reserves and is the world's biggest producer of uranium. Turkmenistan is one of the fastest growing economies in the world that also has sizable oil and gas resources.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia could ditch US dollar in 2-3 years – head of Russia's #2 bank.

RT.com
September 30, 2014 14:19

Two to three years would be enough time for Russia to switch to international settlements to the ruble, Andrey Kostin, head of Russia’s second-biggest bank VTB, said.

“Two to three years is enough, not only to launch [settlements in rubles], but also to complete these mechanisms. But much will depend on how banks will cope with the task,” Kostin said in an interview with Izvestia newspaper.

Kostin first put forward the idea of switching to national currencies in international settlements about a decade ago, which means a move to the ruble shouldn’t be considered a counter-sanction measure.

"I did not find understanding in this matter with the previous leadership of the Central Bank [10 years ago ] They believed that since the [US] dollar works, we shouldn’t do anything, and settlements in rubles will just bring additional risks. Under the new leadership the position of the Central Bank changed. I think that soon we will achieve a major breakthrough,” Kostin said.

Creating a national payment system and establishing a domestic rating agency are among other priorities for the bank, the VTB head added.

SWIFT action

The media has reported on the possibility of the US and EU widening sanctions to exclude Russia from the SWIFT global money transfer system.

Kostin said the move would become “a point of no return” and that any further dialogue would be impossible if SWIFT was cut off.

“If you look at Iran’s experience, shutting down SWIFT only happens when all relations; political, economic, cultural, even diplomatic, break down,” the VTB boss said.

“I don’t know how [Western] banks could block SWIFT and then expect cooperation in the fight against terrorism and nuclear disarmament.”

However, replacing SWIFT within Russia won’t be difficult, Kostin said.

“We have a [similar] system at the Central Bank of Russia and others. The Central Bank has tested this system, and we can switch to it at any moment.”

He said that domestic payments account for about 90 percent of VTB settlements and won’t be affected. Across the entire Russian banking system the share of domestic payments is even higher, Kostin explained.

[TsarSamuil]

Russia’s second biggest lender reduces dollar loans.

RT.com
October 01, 2014 14:06

Russia’s second biggest bank VTB has reduced its US dollar lending, Andrey Kostin the bank’s head said on the sidelines of the Russia Calling! forum on Wednesday.

“In general, we are trying to avoid extending dollar loans in order to de-dollarize the economy. This is right. Many businesses prefer to borrow dollars not because they need them, but because the currency looks less expensive. But in doing so, they assume currency risks without having dollar incomes. And this is wrong,” TASS quotes Kostin as saying.

According to the VTB head, currency loans should be limited to importers or those who really need them.

Kostin has been advocating moving away from the dollar for a long time. In an interview published Tuesday in Russia’s Izvestia newspaper he envisioned the country being able to completely switch to the ruble in international settlements with two to three years.

Talking about the bank’s financial state, Kostin said he expects Russia's Central Bank to help fund foreign exchange liabilities.

"So far, we are not experiencing [ a shortage of foreign exchange liquidity ]. Possibly, the population will switch from rubles to US dollars and this will also add foreign currency to the banking sector," the VTB head said.

[TsarSamuil]

The end of the Western hegemony

Russia and China among new emerging G7.

RT.com
October 09, 2014 10:05

Analysis of a new IMF report projects the top seven emerging markets, measured at purchasing power parity (PPP), will overtake the conventional G7 group of industrialized economies in 2014.

The Financial Times estimated that the seven largest emerging economies can hypothetically be called a new G7: four BRICS members - Brazil, Russia, India and China and three countries of the so-called MINT - Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey, will have a combined GDP of $37.8 trillion in 2014 when calculated at purchasing power parity (PPS). However, the long established G7 group of industrialized nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US are expected to have an output of $34.5 trillion.

The IMF World Outlook update showed that China is now the world’s largest economy in terms of PPP having surpassed the US. In terms of relative prices China’s output is forecast to soar to $17.6 trillion, which is above the $17.4 billion of the US.

PPP is recognized as the best way to compare the size of economies rather than using volatile exchange rates, which rarely reflect the true cost of goods and services. Thus a trillion US dollars are worth a lot more in China than in the US.

If market exchange rates are included the Chinese economy is still lagging behind the US, with its nominal GDP expected to be at $10.4 trillion in 2014, while the US will have $17.4 trillion.

The new estimates showed a significant change in the world with emerging markets now accounting for a half of the world’s twenty largest economies.

Russia is the sixth among the new top 10, ahead of France and the UK.

Indonesia has overtaken the UK to become the 9th largest economy in the world. Meanwhile Nigeria, the other MINT economy entered the top 20 countries having immediately leaped ten places in the rankings from 30th to 20th.

[TsarSamuil]

China launches new World Bank rival.

RT.com
October 24, 2014 12:09

China and India are backing a 21 country $100 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Memorandum of understanding were signed with 21 Asian countries in Beijing Friday. Australia, Indonesia and South Korea were absent following hidden pressure from Washington.

The development bank was proposed a year ago by Chinese President Xi Jinping, and is to offer financing for infrastructure projects in underdeveloped Asian countries.

Headquartered in Beijing, former chairman of the China International Capital Corp investment bank Jim Liqun, is expected to take a leading role.

The bank will initially be capitalized with $50 billion, most of it contributed by China. The country is planning to increase authorized capital to $100 billion. With that amount the AIIB would be two-thirds the size of the $175 billion Asian Development Bank.

India will be the second largest bank shareholder though Kuwait, Qatar, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Nepal, Oman, and all the countries of the Association of Southeast Asia, except Indonesia are involved.

Australia, Indonesia and South Korea did not participate following US claims of ‘concerns’ about a rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders.

Japan, China's main rival in Asia, which dominates the Asian Development Bank along with the United States, did not attend but had not been expected to do so.

Indonesia refused to participate claiming it needs time to discuss China’s proposal.

The Australian Financial Review said US Secretary of State John Kerry had personally asked Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to “steer clear” from joining AIIB.

"Australia has been under pressure from the US for some time to not become a founding member of the bank and it is understood Mr. Kerry put the case directly to the prime minister when the pair met in Jakarta on Monday following the inauguration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo," the paper said.

South Korea, one of America’s closest allies in Asia, is alse prevaricating. Its finance ministry said it spoke with China to request more time to consider details such as the AIIB's governance and operational principles.

US officials have said they do not want to support an initiative Washington thinks is unlikely to promote good environmental, procurement and human rights standards in the way the World Bank and ADB are required to do.

But Chinese officials are convinced the American opposition is an attempt to contain the global rise of China and its ambition to remain the dominant power in Asia.

“You could think of this as a basketball game in which the US wants to set the duration of the game, the size of the court, the height of the basket and everything else to suit itself,” Wei Jianguo, a former Chinese commerce minister, told the Financial Times.

Matthew Goodman, scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC believes the initiatives of a BRICS Bank and AIIB “represent the first serious institutional challenge to the global economic order.”

Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said the AIIB will set high standards, safeguard policies and improve on bureaucratic, unrealistic and irrelevant policies, according to the Xinhua news agency.


Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) shows the way to the guests of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 24, 2014 (AFP Photo / Takaki Yajima)Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) shows the way to the guests of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on October 24, 2014 (AFP Photo / Takaki Yajima)

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China-led new Bank challenges Japanese, US’ influence.

thebricspost.com
October 26, 2014, 5:12 am

Emerging economic powers such as China, India and Brazil have long been demanding greater share of votes in multilateral development institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank to reflect their recent phenomenal growth. China’s economy is expected to grow to $10 trillion this year, yet its share of votes in the Bretton Woods institutions is only 3.72 percent, compared with 17.4 percent for the United States.

The existing situation is frustrating for emerging economies, because less voting power means less say in deciding where funds from these institutions should go. Also, most developing countries are unhappy with the unfair conditions imposed on them by the Western powers.

Unwilling to accept the status quo and answering critics, especially the US, that have long argued that China assume greater global responsibilities in areas like climate change and arms proliferation, President Xi Jinping surprised his Indonesian hosts during a state visit last year by initiating the formation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

While the framework and modus operandi of the proposed bank are still to be finalized, its need is beyond doubt. According to ADB, in the 10 years up to 2020, the region requires investments of $8 trillion in terms of national infrastructure, or $800 billion a year. The ADB currently lends out only about 1.5 percent of this amount. Therefore, additional funding from the AIIB would be welcomed by the developing countries in Asia.

The AIIB is expected to have an initial capital base of $100 billion. Given that the ADB tripled its capital base from $55 billion to $165 billion only in 2009, the AIIB will start life with about two-thirds of the expanded capital base of the former.

From China’s point of view, such a bank makes perfect sense. A major feature of China’s miraculous economic rise has been its emphasis on infrastructure development. In the 20 years from 1992 to 2011, China spent nearly 8.5 percent of its GDP on infrastructure – corresponding figures for other Asian countries were between 2 and 4 percent.

The AIIB, to begin with, will serve at least five objectives for China. First, it could help China invest part of its foreign exchange reserves of $3.9 trillion on commercial terms. Second, it will play a vital role in the internationalization of the yuan. Third, it will help secure contracts for Chinese companies and thus boost employment opportunities at home. Fourth, China has funded many infrastructure projects across the world through the China Development Bank and Exim Bank, some of which have created resentment among local people. Funds from a regional development bank will ensure that there are no resentments. And fifth, the AIIB will boost China’s global influence and enhance its soft power.

Indeed, Xi’s proposal has ruffled some feathers, especially in Japan and the US, for these countries stand to lose some of their power and influence. Tokyo and Washington have worked together to maintain the power structure in the 67-member ADB where they each hold 15.7 percent of votes, against a paltry 6.5 percent by China.

Reports indicate that the US is pressuring Australia and South Korea not to join the AIIB. But as Hedley Bull, eminent late Oxford professor, once said, “people have friends but countries have only interests”. Thus Australia, India and South Korea will decide whether or not to join the bank based on their national interests.

China has considerable experience in infrastructure planning and construction, and financing projects outside the country. As Finance Minister Lou Jiwei has said, China Development Bank’s commercial infrastructure loan is now far bigger than that of the World Bank and ADB combined. And surprisingly, this process started only 20 years ago.

China has often been accused of lending funds to developing countries without taking into consideration good governance, and environmental and social safeguards. Projects in China have often suffered from similar shortcomings. Although China is learning fast how to overcome the shortcomings both at home and abroad, its presence in the developing world has been positive even with the shortcomings.

Some critics argue that the AIIB will reduce the environmental, social and procurement standards in a race to the bottom. This is a childish criticism, especially because China has invited other governments to help with funding and governance.

The AIIB is a win-win proposition for everyone. For the developing countries in Asia, it will be a new source of funding. For China, it will be a channel to strengthen soft power and enhance economic benefits. For the ADB and the World Bank, it will be a challenge to perform better and undertake reforms, which are long overdue.

[TsarSamuil]

‘Global media control allows US to sell black for white’: Putin’s key Valdai quotes.

RT.com
October 24, 2014 16:50

Vladimir Putin criticized the West for "sawing at branches" with sanctions against Russia and releasing a "genie in a bottle" with color revolutions. RT looks at the Russian President's five best quotes from his speech in Sochi.

Vladimir Putin also lashed out at the United States for destabilizing the world order of checks and balances for its own gains. The Russian President understands that there is a need to change the systems in place within international relations, but according to him:

"The US has been destabilizing the world order of checks and balances for its own gains."
He added that the US, as perceived winners of the Cold War, is trying to create the world “for their own gains," which has weakened global and regional security. Any country that does not agree with Washington’s view of affairs is all but blacklisted.

President Putin clearly lays the blame for ongoing terrorism in the Middle East squarely with the United States, for policies that have been repeating themselves for decades. He also accuses the West of, "turning a blind eye," to the encroachment of international terrorism into Russia and Central Asia.

“It never ceases to amaze me how our partners have been guilty of making the same mistakes time and again."
He also used the example of Washington's funding of the Mujaheddin in the Afghan-Soviet war in the 1980's, which eventually gave birth to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

US and EU sanctions imposed on Russia were another sore point for the Russian President. He mentioned that there would be no winners from their decision, saying, "This was a mistake, which has a knock-on effect on everyone." He also accused Washington of using the EU against Russia to fulfill its own gains.

The Russian President laid the blame for the crisis in Ukraine firmly on the West for meddling in affairs, which did not concern them. He mentioned that Russia had tried to discuss the issue of Ukraine with the EU for a long time, but in no uncertain terms he was told it was none of Russia’s business.

Vladimir Putin voiced his disagreement with the West’s position on Russia, which he likened to the Latin proverb "What is permissible for Jove is not permissible for an ox." However, he said the Russian "bear" won't ask anyone for permission and demands that its views on global issues should also be respected.

Towards the end of his speech in Sochi, for the Valdai Club, which is an informal gathering for political scholars, the Russian President, alluded to fears that Russia was looking to expand its empire and that Moscow is looking to destabilize the world order. With relations between Russia and the West at a very low ebb, Putin also hinted Russia will look to develop allies further afield. He also used the notion of a bear defending its territory to have a swipe at the US for getting to close to Russia's borders.

“He is considered the owner of the Taiga, but he, I know for a fact, does not want to go to a different climatic zone, as it is uncomfortable for him there. However, he will not give it to anyone else; I think that this should be clear.”



On Putin's Valdai speech: The logjam in world diplomacy.

Patrick L Young is expert in global financial markets working in multiple disciplines, ranging from trading independently to running exchanges.

RT.com
October 25, 2014 09:32

President Putin expressed frustration at the global status quo from the Valdai Conference. Western politicians may find it painful to appreciate that the Russian president was accurate in many assessments.

Former French PM Dominique de Villepin expressed a ‘mot juste’: the spiral of mistrust needs to be reversed. The trouble is once I introduce the name of the next speaker at the Valdai conference, a significant chunk of the trolling classes will immediately head for the comments section to resume the war of words, doubtless suggesting the Russian political class advocates eating babies or some other ludicrous notion.

Mentioning ‘Vladimir Putin’ and ‘constructive comment’ in the same sentence is more than stubbornly closed-minded elements of the Western media can comprehend. A dismal Cold War spirit has been re-engaged from various points west despite a very post-Communist spirit being apparent within seconds of landing on Russian soil.

We have a logjam in world diplomacy. The single superpower of the past 20 years is demonstrating monopolistic follies tinged with delusion, ringed with incompetence. Thus US intelligence agencies missed the rise of ISIS until they reached the cusp of conquering an area somewhere between the size of Belgium and South Korea… For those worried about big government inefficiency, it is difficult to endorse American intelligence agencies as delivering value for taxpayers.

Thus Putin expounded a rather telling argument: the American-centric superpower era has created troubling consequences - and a remarkable power vacuum! Militant terrorists rampaging in Canada clearly implies total failure to make the world a safer place.

American ‘divine right’ regime change has destabilized the world with the US falling into imperial folly, unable to acknowledge its mistakes, destined to evoke Einstein’s definition of "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

In Sochi this week, Putin didn’t mince his words. He is understandably frustrated about sanctions - a bizarre process by which Europe has sacrificed economic recovery to please the USA, whose Russian economic exposure is minimal. Meanwhile Russia may be suffering ruble decreases, but the economy is still growing. Pity the poor Ukrainians: promised an unrealistic leap to prosperity by has-been Western politicians on the Maidan. The Ukrainian economy stands to decline a staggering 9 percent this year, despite a dismally low base thanks to a generation of color revolutions concealing oligarchical kleptocracy.

Putin has a clear right to his ‘told you so’ remarks, even leaving aside the Syrian fiasco in which President Obama crossed a self-created thin red line from Commander...to Discredited-Ditherer-in-Chief. Meanwhile the Chief Putter of the Oval Office prefers playing golf to negotiating nuclear arms reduction which Russia is eager to pursue.

President Putin succinctly described US sanctions as “sawing through the branches on which they are sitting” while he presses on with an Eastern pivot which the West dismisses at its peril. That US sole superpower status will be threatened outright by China soon.

True, the US has played its fiercest card, endeavoring to block Russia through the US dollar payment system, but that financial hegemony will only last as long as the dollar is the undisputed currency king. Obama has motivated Russia to disintermediate it.

Those keen to disparage Putin emphasize his Soviet-era Communist background. Curiously, outgoing EU President Barroso, whose decade in office has left the EU palpably poorer, was also an ex-Communist...but they sweep that under Brussels’ totalitarian carpet!

Prescriptive Western arrogance is being undermined by relative financial decline - the Germans won’t bail out their EU neighbors, only Russo-Chinese involvement can save Ukraine from the economic abyss. Western credibility has suffered from shrill assertions that the hand of the Kremlin is omnipresent in every problem. Even Der Spiegel magazine is now distancing itself from previous suggestions that the MH17 tragedy involved direct Russian military intervention.

There is much reform still to be undertaken, but Russia has achieved great things in two decades of freedom. It becomes all global citizens to encourage that path to greater prosperity. Rather we have a tired American empire abusing legal systems and due process, or as Putin put it:

"The existing system of international relations, international laws, the system of checks and balances have been therefore declared useless, obsolete and ready to be torn down."

Dominique De Villepin is right: the spiral of distrust must be broken - the sooner the better for everybody. But will any of the Western political pygmies be brave enough to break the impasse?

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‘World moving away from hegemony model’

RT.com
October 26, 2014 01:13

The unipolar world as we know it is moving to its end, Wolfgang Schüssel, Austria’s Chancellor in 2000-2007, told RT at the Valdai forum. Russia is to play a major role in the new order, but at the moment the Ukraine crisis dominates the country’s image.

RT: What is your opinion about the European sanctions against Russia? Are they fair and useful or not?

Wolfgang Schüssel: First of all, there was a story before the sanctions. We were absolutely surprised with what happened in Ukraine. There are always possibilities for independence or secession, but according to the Helsinki Charter it must be negotiated peacefully and remain within the agreement of the respective country. This did not happen. The sanctions were the response. I think [the EU] tried to calculate and to balance it so that the response would not to be damaging the economies too sharply. Nevertheless, there are some consequences to be felt, in Russia and also in Europe.

The most important thing in my opinion is how to restore a positive, upwards-leading cycle of confidence-building measures. Sunday will see elections in Ukraine. Hopefully they will bring to power moderate politicians like President Poroshenko. On Wednesday an agreement on energy deliveries from Russia to Ukraine could be negotiated, under the moderation of the European Commission. And then we should strengthen the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and guarantee local elections there to be held in accordance with the Minsk agreement and the Ukrainian legislation.

After that I think everything could move in positive direction. It is still difficult. Just a few sparks would be enough for the fire to break out again. As an optimist, I hope this would not happen. But it is a really difficult situation. I think Europe, Russia, the EU and Ukraine can and should demonstrate we are doing better than other parts of the world – look at the Middle East or Asia.

RT: If the situation in Ukraine is positive, will the sanctions be canceled?

WS: I am sure. Much hope is stored on Minsk agreement, but today it is relatively shaky. Everyday people die in eastern Ukraine, which is really tragic. But if the both sides do feel it works, I am sure they will start moving into that direction [of cancelling sanctions].

RT: In your opinion what is the role of Russia on the economic and political arena?

WS: It is an interesting question because we are moving now to a new era. There is no hegemony anymore, no unipolar world, no country can dictate everything. We are going to a multipolar world, and things become much more complicated and not so easy to handle. But this is something we should adapt to.

Russia of course plays an important part in it. Russia controls nine time zones, has enormous resources – and is our neighbor. You cannot change your family, your territory or your neighborhood. So we are born neighbors and we should show the world that we could live in a good neighborhood. If the present crisis in Ukraine could be settled in a positive way, then I think the doors will open again for a partnership.

RT: The name of this forum is ‘World Order: New Rules or No Rules?’ Is it a good question? What direction are we moving to?

WS: Let’s leave the ‘no rules’ option aside as it is no option at all. We had it centuries ago when we had no rules at all. This was an anarchic world with no guarantees, no stability, and with much more wars and casualties. At that time 200 people per 1,000 people would die from the hands of other people. Now it is less than one per 1,000. So we are living in a more peaceful world and this is because we have rules – Helsinki Charter, for instance, OSCE, the UN Charter, International Court of Justice, WTO. So we have rules and let’s stick to them and strengthen the multilateral institutions.

There are some areas where we need more cooperation dictated by challenges: non-state actors, terror threats, cyber threats, health pandemics, environment, economics, etc. Next year we mark 40 years of Helsinki Charter. Probably we could use this opportunity to discuss these new challenges.

[TsarSamuil]

Japan miffed over India’s stymieing trade pacts: Report.

thebricspost.com
October 26, 2014, 8:46 am

Japanese daily Nikkei reported on Sunday that Japan and other Asian nations are deliberating on “arranging a deal without India”.

“We should not have included India in the RCEP negotiation framework in the first place,” a Japanese official was quoted in the report.

Incidentally, the next round of RCEP negotiations will be held from 1-5 December 2014 in the outskirts of the Indian capital, New Delhi.

The RCEP, or Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, will be comprised of the 10-nation ASEAN club plus six others: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The combined economic output of the bloc reached $21.3 trillion in 2013, which accounts for nearly 30 per cent of the world output.

The China-led RCEP trade negotiations will conclude by the end of next year, Economic Ministers from the 16 countries said in August this year. India had skipped the August meet held in Naypyitaw, the capital of Myanmar and the negotiations had hence failed to reach consensus on a target for tariff removal.

The RCEP aims to tie together ASEAN’s bilateral free trade agreements with each trading partner. With almost half of the world’s population, RCEP economies represent a massive market.

The Narendra Modi government in New Delhi has said it does not see the number of products subject to tariffs cut beyond 40 per cent, while some nations are targeting 80-90 per cent.

RCEP adds to a burgeoning slew of regional and sectoral trade negotiations that sprung up after a decade of talks failed to conclude a global trade deal, the so-called Doha Round.

Discussions on the trade deal came as Beijing tried to counter US’ progress in forming a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) that excludes China.

“We’re organising trade relations with countries other than China so that China starts feeling more pressure about meeting basic international standards,” Obama said referring to the TPP in a presidential debate in 2012.

China and India are not included in the US-led TPP trade pact.

[TsarSamuil]

It’s now total war against the BRICS.

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and TomDispatch, and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia.

RT.com
November 04, 2014 21:07

Fasten your seat belts: the information war already unleashed against Russia is bound to expand to Brazil, India and China.

Brazil, Russia, India and China, as it’s widely known, are the top four members of the BRICS group of emerging powers, which also includes South Africa and will incorporate other Global South nations in the near future. The BRICS immensely annoy Washington – and its Think Tankland – as they embody the concerted Global South push towards a multipolar world.

Bottles of Crimean champagne could be bet that the US response to such a process couldn’t be but a sort of total information war - not dissimilar in spirit to the NSA’s deep state Total Information Awareness (TIA), a crucial element of the Pentagon’s Full Spectrum Dominance doctrine. The BRICS are seen as a major threat – so to counteract them implies domination of the information grid.

Vladimir Davydov, director of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Latin America, was spot on when he remarked, “The current situation shows that there are attempts to suppress not only Russia but also the BRICS given that the global role of this association has only intensified.”

Russia demonization has quickly escalated in the US from sanctions related to Ukraine to Putin as the “new Hitler” and the resurrection of the time-tested Cold War scare “The Russians are coming”.

In the case of Brazil the information war already started way before the reelection of President Dilma Rousseff. As much as Wall Street and its local comprador elites were doing everything to tank what they define as a “statist” economy, Dilma was also personally demonized.

Not so far-fetched steps in the near future might include sanctions on China because of its “aggressive” position in the South China Sea, or Hong Kong, or Tibet; sanctions on India because of Kashmir; sanctions on Brazil because of human rights violations or excess deforestation. Selected Indian diplomats, off the record, deplore that the first BRICS nation to buckle under pressure will be India.

As the BRICS are the de facto key bricks in building a more democratic, inclusive global system of international relations and financial system – there are no others in the market – at least they seem to be alert enough. If they are not, each nation is bound to be knocked out one by one.

Georgy Toloraya, executive director of the Russian National Committee on BRICS Research, points out that at least there’s “more and more communication taking place through BRICS channels today.”

Brazilians, for instance, are particularly interested in investment cooperation. The BRICS Development Bank will be a reality in 2015. And a Russian team is preparing a detailed report on the future prospects of BRICS cooperation bound to be discussed in-depth in Beijing in over a week, concomitant to the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit.

From energy war to currency war

The new Saudi oil shock – which got at a minimum a green light by the Obama administration – totally fits the pattern of a TIA-style offensive against the BRICS, with two of them as key targets: Russia and Brazil.

Over 50% of Russia’s budget comes from revenue from oil and gas. Every $10 drop in the price of a barrel of oil means Russia losing up to $14.6 billion a year. This may be offset somewhat by the weakening of the ruble – more than 25% against the US dollar since early 2014. And Russia of course still has around $450 billion in reserves. Still, Russia’s economy may grow by just 0.5 to 2% in 2015.

With each $1 drop in crude oil prices, Brazil’s number one company, Petrobras, loses more than $900 million. At current oil price levels, Petrobras will be losing around $14 billion a year. So the price drop does undermine Petrobras’ long-term expansion to fund new infrastructure and exploration projects linked to its valuable “pre-salt” oil deposits. Petrobras was a key target linked to the demonization of Rousseff.

David McNew/Getty Images/AFPDavid McNew/Getty Images/AFP

Iran is not part of the BRICS but shares the group’s push towards a multipolar world. Iran needs oil at $136 a barrel to balance its budget. A nuclear deal with the P5+1 to be struck in three weeks, on November 24, could lead to the easing of sanctions – at least from Europe – and allow Iran to boost oil exports. Yet in Tehran there are no illusions about how the manipulation of oil prices has been engineered to further destabilize Iran’s economy and undermine its position in the nuclear negotiations.

On the economic front, TIA manifests itself via the Fed ending of QE (quantitative easing): this means the US dollar will keep going up, and more US dollars will be departing emerging markets. Xinhua has seriously tackled the issue.

The US dollar and the yuan are effectively linked. When the US dollar goes up, the yuan also goes up. Yet it’s the Chinese economy that suffers. What Beijing is worried is how Chinese manufacturing may become too expensive in arrays of markets where profit margins are already very slim.

So what will certainly happen is China’s Central Bank setting up a controlled fall of the yuan – and at the same time developing mechanisms to fight the outflow of hot money, especially to Hong Kong.

China may be relatively immune to the end of QE. Yet everyone in Asia remembers very well the 1997 financial crisis, which spilled over to Russia in 1998. The only benefactor then was – what else – corporate US interests and Washington hegemony.

The center cannot hold

BRICS demonization, in different gradations, will continue unabated – with the central focus on Russia, which, by the way, will launch World War III. Why? Because the Americans said so.

The latest exhibit concerns the Danish Defense Intelligence Service (DDIS), who revealed last week that Russia simulated an attack with fighter jets and missiles on the island of Bornholm in June.

DDIS did not disclose any concrete details about the simulated attack. But emphasized it was the largest Russian military exercise over the Baltic Sea since 1991. DDIS issued a Risk Assessment 2014, predicting that “over the next few years, the situation in eastern Ukraine will highly likely turn into a new frozen European conflict.”

The Danes, though, were very clear: “There are no indications that Russia constitutes an increased direct military threat to Danish territory.” None of this prevented the usual US military officials to spin Russia is preparing to launch World War III.

There’s absolutely no evidence Washington is prepared to even discuss the possibility of modifying the current world-system, as Immanuel Wallerstein theorized, towards a more democratized management. The upcoming G20 in Australia once again will make this very clear.

So what’s happening is the system, increasingly fragmented, slouching inexorably towards a catastrophic breaking point. TIA and its sidekicks and circumvolutions are just a desperate “strategy” to postpone the inevitable decadence. Wallerstein in the end was right; the post-Cold War world is bound to remain immensely volatile.

[TsarSamuil]

G20 in Australia: Buffoons v the Global South.

Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and TomDispatch, and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia.

RT.com
November 17, 2014 10:27

Here’s the G20 in Australia in a one-liner: a tiny bunch of Anglo-Saxon political buffoons attempts to drown out the Global South.

Countries representing over 85 percent of the world economy get together to (in theory) discuss some really heavy economic/financial issues, and virtually the only thing pitiful Western corporate media blabbers about is Russian President Vladimir Putin cutting an ‘isolated figure’.

Well, Washington and its string of puppets did try to turn the G20 into a farce. Fortunately the adults in the room had some business to do.

The five BRICS member-nations – despite their current problems, the G5 that really matters in the world - did meet before the summit, including the ‘isolated figure’. Economically, this G5 more than matches the old, decrepit G7.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff forcefully encouraged the G5 to turbo-charge their mutual cooperation – as well as South-South cooperation. That includes, of course, the BRICS Development Bank. The BRICS, stressing their ‘serious concern’, once again called Washington’s bluff – perpetually refusing to endorse much-delayed structural reform at the IMF.

The IMF quota and governance reform package was in fact approved by the IMF’s Board of Governors way back in 2010. One of its key resolutions was to increase the voting power of emerging markets, the BRICS at the forefront. For Republicans in Washington, this is worse than communism.

Chinese President Xi Jinping added that BRICS cooperation should not only boost the global economy, but also ensure global peace. Make trade, not tomahawks. The over 120 nations of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) – beggars in the G20 banquet - were paying very close attention.

So much ‘aggression’

Now compare the BRICS at work with EU heads of state meeting exclusively with US President Barack Obama to define their ‘strategy’ - not to improve the global economy, but to further demonize Russia.

And this after British Prime Minister David Cameron told Putin in a “robust” meeting he’s at a crossroads and about to be hit with more sanctions; Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper complained he had to shake Putin’s hand; and Australian Prime Minister Tony ‘Shirtfront’ Abbott got everyone to pose with koalas – talk about animal abuse - after apparently backing down on ‘shirtfronting’ the Russian leader.

And it was not only ‘Russian aggression’. Obama, Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also met separately to increase “military cooperation” and “strengthen maritime security” in the Asia-Pacific. Against (what else?) “Chinese aggression.”

Imperial arrogance and buffoonery apart, Putin did meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel for over three hours. They discussed Ukraine, essentially. No leaks. So Putin met and talked with all the adults that matter: the BRICS and Merkel. There was nothing else to do, business-wise.

In the Russian President’s own words: “It will take nine hours to fly to Vladivostok and another eight hours to get to Moscow. I need four hours sleep before I get back to work on Monday. We have completed our business.”

Oh goodness. That was the cue for Western corporate media go absolutely bonkers spinning the ‘isolated figure’ fled the G20 in shame.

When in doubt, print money

Despite the Anglo-Saxon political gang’s every effort to debase the summit, some – minimalistic - work was done. Even Putin himself hailed the “constructive atmosphere.” More like constructive wishful-thinking atmosphere.

In the final communiqué, a promise was made to increase global GDP by a whopping $2 trillion by 2018. The crux of the magic plan is to facilitate investment in infrastructure, which creates jobs and improves global trade.

By the way, that’s exactly what China has been doing – en masse. China and Russia clinched two humongous gas deals worth $725 billion this year. The $40 billion Silk Road Investment Fund will finance development projects in seven nations across Central Asia. The ‘isolated figure’ has confirmed that Russia’s trade with China and the rest of Asia will rise from 25 percent to 40 percent of Russia’s GDP.

Moreover Russia, China, Iran – and soon other Asian nations – are actively on their way to establish their own currency-clearing systems, independent of the SWIFT system and the US dollar. Russia-China trade and investments are increasingly in rubles and yuan instead of USD. For the buffoons, this is worse than the Apocalypse.

The G20 communiqué also talks about a de facto, renewed neoliberal offensive – from “deregulation” in the markets for goods and services to “flexibility” in the labor market. A hazy global investment hub will be set up in Sydney, but no one really knows how it will work.

The G20 also insisted on the need to combat shadow banking. Pure wishful thinking – as monster shadow players/speculators/outright financial gangsters will prevent it. You’re not seriously going after sewage farms of the “pray to the US dollar, kneel to the Crown” Turks & Caicos kind, are you, boys?

Not surprisingly, every single reference about transparency in extractive industries totally disappeared from the final communiqué. As for climate change, more wishful thinking on “effective action” before the Paris conference in December 2015. Casinos of laundry money could be bet that nothing substantial will happen before or after the conference.

The Wahhabis of neoliberalism obviously derided the attempt by “deadbeat” Argentina to get the G20 to develop a supranational bankruptcy regime. After all, vulture funds of the Paul Singer variety should always be able to act like vultures.

In the end, the ‘isolated figure’ was back to heavy work Monday morning, Moscow time. The EU is set to lose at least 15 percent of $330 billion in trade with Russia in 2015 – while trade among the BRICS will double. The EU’s absolute debacle will continue to be caused to a large extent by neoliberalism. And the diktat by Washington/Wall Street elites that all instances of mixed economy in the EU must be shattered.

While the Fed ends its quantitative easing (QE), the ECB dreams of printing money like crazy, Japan’s Central Bank prints money like crazy and Russia and China buy oceans of physical gold. Under the print money smokescreen, the global economy will keep suffering.

Still, the Russian economy will keep integrating closer with China, Iran and Kazakhstan. The center of global investment and the heart of the action will continue to be – where else? – the Asia-Pacific. No wonder the G20 in 2016 will be hosted by China.

In other news, Pepe Mujica, Uruguay’s former president, did not go to the G20. But let him have the last word. He is stepping out of power. It takes a second to compare his personal dignity, honesty, humility, intelligence, courage, altruism and sound policies with the reckless buffoonery of the Cameron, Harper and Abbott mold.

There are politicians, and ‘politicians’. Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of global public opinion can see right through them.

[TsarSamuil]

How is that containment going, yankee pigs?

Vid,
rt.com/business/213411-going-nuclear-russia-india/

Going Nuclear: Russia and India agree to build 12 power reactors by 2035.

RT.com
December 11, 2014 09:58

Russia and India are ramping up energy ties and will construct at least 12 new nuclear reactors by 2035. Two will be completed by 2016 at the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, Russian state-owned power company Rosatom confirmed Thursday.

"This morning a general framework agreement was signed on the construction and equipment delivery for the third and fourth blocks of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant at the present site. Cement foundations [for the new blocks] will be poured in the beginning of 2016," Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said Thursday, as quoted by Sputnik news agency.

In April, Russia and India agreed to begin phase two of the Kudankulam plant, which includes adding Block 3 and Block 4. It is the only nuclear power plant which meets all the 'post-Fukushima' safety requirements.

“Today we will sign a strategic document that foresees the construction of no less than 12 nuclear reactors over the next 20 years, or in other words this would be no less than two nuclear power plants,” Kiriyenko said.

Talking at a press briefing in India President Putin said the two countries had signed ‘a very important’ agreement to construct the total of more than 20 nuclear reactors.

“We have reached a new level of cooperation. This isn’t just about trade and services, but this is the creation of the new industrial branch,” he went on to say.

Nuclear cooperation between Russia and India has been on the rise, and has been a main topic of discussion during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official visit to New Delhi December 10 -11. Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also discuss at $3 billion helicopter deal, oil exploration and supply, infrastructure projects, and diamond sales by Alrosa, the Russian state-owned diamond company, to India.

Russia and India first agreed to build the Kudankulam nuclear plant in November 1988, and the first 1,000-megawatt reactor ‘Block 1’ was completed on October 22, 2013. The second power block has also been completed, but needs to be tweaked before it can be connected to the grid. The plant is located in the southern Indian province of Tamil Nadu.

Other deals included a 10-year contract between Rosneft and Essar, India’s big international conglomerate, for the delivery 10 million tons of oil annually. The oil will be transported via ship from the Far East as well as the Baltic and Black Seas.

GLONASS, Russia’s satellite navigation system, will create a $100 million joint venture in India to help produce navigation systems and quick response receivers.

Russia will also assist in the creation of an Indian mobile phone operator.

Relations with India have become a priority for the Kremlin, as US-led sanctions have hindered diplomatic and economic ties between Russia and the West.

Bilateral trade between the two BRICS nations in 2013 was $10 billion, a small amount compared to the $90 billion Russia exchanges with China or the €326 billion it turns over with the European Union every year.

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‘BRICS becoming a significant alternative voice in the international arena’

RT.com
December 10, 2014 14:08

BRICS could emerge as a voice for an alternative world view and development model as there is a good scope to take the relationship forward, Rajiv Sikri, former secretary at India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told RT.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is heading to India with one-day visit. The meeting between President Putin and Indian Prime Minister Modi promises deals on natural gas and new nuclear power for India. As for Russia, it is seeking to expand its energy links with Asia to counter sanctions from the US and its allies in the West.

Rajiv Sikri argues that India is very interested in close cooperation with Russia, while energy, arms sales and technology are the key sectors for developing the Russia-India partnership. He added that India would not support sanctions against Russia.

RT: In his interview before the visit President Putin said that Russia is aiming at becoming the major energy supplier to Asia as Western markets grow more and more complicated. Does India see this as an opportunity?

Rajiv Sikri: Definitely. I think energy has always been a priority in our relationship with Russia. We have been looking for more opportunities to invest in Russia and to work out long-term arrangements on oil and perhaps natural gas also. After Sakhalin-1 we have had a few modest ventures in Russia but nothing major. I hope that during Mr. Putin’s visit we could agree on something. There is also some talk, and I would welcome that, of exploring the possibility of a gas pipeline from Siberia to India. That is a very futuristic idea that would really lock the countries into a long-term energy partnership.

RT: Talking about energy we should also mention nuclear power. It's reported that Russia may build up to 24 nuclear units in India. Why does India turn to Russia when it comes to nuclear power?

RS: Russia was the first country that offered cooperation with India in the nuclear power sector with Kudankulam-1 which was the first agreed in 1989 during Mr. Gorbachev’s time. Currently it’s the only foreign partner which has actually set up a nuclear power station in India. There is a good level of trust between Russia and India, and I do hope that there can be a long-term large-scale program of cooperation in the nuclear sector that could be agreed upon during the forthcoming visit of President Putin to India.

RT: This will be the Russian leader's first visit to India since Prime Minister Modi took office in May. How different will Putin's relations be compared to when Manmohan Singh was at the helm?

RS: The first and most important thing about India-Russia relations is that this is a relationship that enjoys very broad national consensus among all political parties and among the people of India. So no matter who is the Prime Minister of India, which party is in power – all political parties and the people of India can see Russia as a very old, trusted and sincere friend. It’s a continuation of the traditional India-Russia friendship, but of course Mr. Modi is a new prime minister, he is coming with a majority, he is a man who is in a hurry. I’m sure he’ll want to explore how Russia and India can cooperate in advancing the respective national development priorities of both countries.

RT: India's deal with France on Rafale fighter jets still hangs in the air, and India earlier reportedly threatened to cancel its contract due to France's decision not to sell Mistral ships to Russia. Is India reconsidering France as a defense supplier after this?

RS: India has obviously diversified its sources of supply, though Russia remains very important – the first or the second defense partner – and we are getting some kind of equipment and technology that we are not getting from any other country like an aircraft carrier or nuclear submarines. I think our armed forces are very happy with the experience that they have in using Russian technology, our systems are geared to Russian production and weapons. So I see that Russia will remain a very important defense partner with India in the coming years. Actually if there are any technologies that are not available with Russia, India will go and look at other partners, but I don’t think that Russia needs to be concerned that India is downgrading the defense aspect of its relationship.

RT: Russia and India are talking about working on joint hi-tech projects. What are your prospects on this partnership? Is this just a few things the countries are interested in or it is this about creating a new hi-tech powerhouse?

RS: I hope it’s about creating a hi-tech powerhouse because Mr. Modi’s government has focused on a campaign making India develop manufacturing in India, including the defense technology sector and manufacturing sector in India. To the extent that Russia can transfer technology and work out collaborative projects for production both in the military and civil sector, I think this would meet Mr. Modi’s objectives of developing the Indian economy. I think Russia would be ready to share technologies with us, it has always done so in the past and I see no reason why it would not be willing to do so now.

RT: India and Russia are now working on concluding a free trade agreement (FTA) between India and the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. How much of a breakthrough would that be if it’s reached?

RS: It would be an important economic step and also an important political step because this would be a huge and integrated market and this could be one of the ways to offer increasing rather than a lower level of bilateral trade. We need to do something imaginative on this front and perhaps India joining the Customs Union and having free trade with the Customs Union would be one step to energize trade and economic partnership.

RT: How vital is it for Russia to increase its relations with its BRICS partners, and India in particular in times of tough economic sanctions from the West? Is it possible that India support any of the sanctions against Russia?

RS: We have made it very clear that we do not support any sanctions on any country which are not endorsed by the UN Security Council. That position is a principled position. The last BRICS summit – both President Putin and Prime Minister Modi were there – showed that BRICS is becoming a significant alternative voice in the international arena. The New Development Bank has been set up. I think the rest of the world is also taking BRICS seriously. It will take time but BRICS could emerge as a voice for an alternative world view and development model. You already see it at G20, there is G7 and then BRICS. So in G20 you have some alternative views that are emerging. It’s not that all the BRICS countries agree on every issue but on those that we do agree, I think, there is a good scope to take the relationship and institution forward.

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Russia,India ink raft of deals including Crimea trade push.

thebricspost.com
December 11, 2014, 9:53 am

Even as the European Union is considering widening its ban on investment in Crimea, Russia and India on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost trade between India and the Crimean region during President Putin’s New Delhi visit.

The agreement was signed by Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov and Gul Kripalani, chairman of the Indian-Crimean Partnership. The Kremlin has received support from both New Delhi and Beijing in the face of western sanctions over Russia’s annexation of Crime.

The Crimea agreement with New Delhi will boost joint projects in “engineering, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and tourism to information technology, microelectronics and industrial parks”, said a Russian government press release.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in the Indian capital where the two sides inked crucial energy deals, including Rosneft’s 10-year oil delivery contract of 10 million tons per year with India.

“We have a strategic partnership that is incomparable. Russia our foremost defence partner since decades,” said Modi at a joint press conference following talks with Putin.

Russia and India have agreed on the construction of at least 12 new nuclear energy blocks within the next 20 years. This includes two new blocks for the existing Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu in 2016.

India has agreed to expeditiously identify a second site, in addition to the existing unit at Kudankulam in southern India for Russian-designed nuclear power units in India, said Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

“At Summit India-Russia agree on Strategic Vision to strengthen cooperation in peaceful uses of Atomic Energy,” tweeted Akbaruddin.

The Indian Prime Minister also said in Thursday press conference that “Energy security is critical, for India’s economic development and creating jobs. Russia is also a key partner in this area.”

“We cooperate in research reactors, a new generation of reactors, including the use of thorium as a fuel; we consider the possibility of cooperation in uranium extraction, its enrichment. Today we can say that the cooperation between Russia and India has an absolutely strategic character,” said Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund and India’s infrastructure investor IDFC also announced that the two entities will invest $1 billion in hydroelectric projects in India.

The vast array of deals signed including partnership with Crimea comes weeks ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to India. Obama has insisted on US attempts to “isolate” Putin internationally and expose Russia to a spiralling trade war with the west.

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Ukraine President criticises Modi’s diplomacy

thebricspost.com
December 12, 2014, 6:37 am


Crimean leader Sergey Aksyonov (centre) walks inside a hotel in New Delhi.

After India hosted Crimea’s Prime Minister Sergey Aksyonov who signed a trade cooperation pact with an Indian business association during President Vladimir Putin’s India visit, Ukraine has hit out at the Indian government.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko suggested on Friday that India seems to be placing more importance on “money” over “values” by harbouring trade ties with the Crimean leader. Poroshenko was speaking at Lowy Institute in Australia on Friday.

“It is not an easy job to keep the world together. This is the difference between money and values. The closer you are to civilization nations, values is much more important to you than money. You can be bought by money, contracts…,” the Ukrainian President said in a dig at the pact signed between an Indian business association and the Crimean government.

“The Indian position doesn’t help, it doesn’t save Mr Aksyanov. He is a criminal, it’s very simple. He has a criminal background and no doubt he has a criminal future,” said Poroshenko.

The head of the Crimean government Aksyonov signed a memorandum of understanding between Crimea and the Indian-Crimean Partnership, an association of Indian business circles on the sidelines of his trip on Thursday.

A group of Indian businessmen and Indian journalists will visit Crimea under the agreement, said a Russian news agency Tass report.

India earlier broke with the international community in acknowledging that Russia has legitimate interests in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday in the Indian capital where the two sides inked crucial energy deals, including Rosneft’s 10-year oil delivery contract of 10 million tons per year with India.

“We have a strategic partnership that is incomparable. Russia our foremost defence partner since decades,” said Modi at a joint press conference following talks with Putin.

The vast array of deals signed between Russia and India, including an economic partnership with Crimea comes weeks ahead of US President Barack Obama’s visit to India. Obama has insisted on US attempts to “isolate” Putin internationally and expose Russia to a spiralling trade war with the west.

New Delhi has supported Moscow over the Ukraine crisis, with Modi saying that dialogue has to replace the current blame-game.

“There is a saying in India that the person who should throw a stone first is the person who has not committed any sins. In the world right now, a lot of people want to give advice. But look within them, and they too have sinned in some way. Ultimately, India’s view point is that efforts need to be made to sit together and talk, and to resolve problems in an ongoing process,” Modi told a US broadcaster in September.

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20 deals in 24 hours: Russia-India relations given $100 billion-worth boost.

Rajeev Sharma is a New Delhi-based journalist, author and strategic analyst. He tweets @kishkindha and can be reached at [e-mail]

RT.com
December 12, 2014 12:07

The economic burden of Western sanctions has pushed Russia to the east in search of business opportunities. Judging by the outcome of President Putin’s visit to India - 20 high-profile deals struck – Moscow’s ‘pivot to Asia’ is getting a warm welcome.

Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved this during his visit to India spanning 23 hours and 15 minutes and at a summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that lasted barely a few hours.

By the time the two leaders finished their business in New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, 20 pacts were signed in the presence of Putin and Modi on 11 December and the two sides ended with US$100 billion commercial contracts.

Rich pickings by both sides included deals worth $40 billion in nuclear energy, $50 billion in crude oil and gas and $10 billion in a host of other sectors, including defense, fertilizers, space, and diamonds.

All these deals are long-term in nature. For example, India and Russia agreed that Russia would be constructing 12 new nuclear reactors for India and India would soon be identifying a second site to host these plants, apart from Kudankulam in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Each of the new nuclear reactors will cost $3 billion apiece, triple the amount India spent on the two Kudankulam plant units which each cost just a billion dollars. The sharp hike in the costs is because of tough nuclear liability laws that the Indian parliament enacted four years ago.


Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at The World Diamond Conference at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on December 11, 2014. (AFP Photo)

No foreign power has invested even a single dollar since the new Indian nuclear liability laws came into force. However with Russia wading into the vast Indian nuclear market despite its liability laws means that nations like the US, the UK, France and Canada will be in line.

Indians will have to thank the Russians for that. But then Russia too has got the advantage of being the early mover in this regard.

The $40 billion expenditure for construction of 12 new nuclear plants in India will be spaced out over two decades.

Even then this is big money, and more so for Russia at this point of time when Russia is hemmed in by the West and isolated because of sanctions enforced by the West against Russia. An Asian country like Japan, the world’s third biggest economy, too has joined the West in implementing sanctions on Russia. The Western sanctions left little room for Russia and practically forced it to divert its direction of trade and business to Asia which offers far bigger and untapped markets.

Putin’s just-ended India trip constitutes a major foreign policy success for the Russian President as he has successfully teamed up with China and India, Asia’s number one and third economies respectively. Earlier this year, Putin had signed a whopping $400 billion 30-year contract with China for Russian energy exports to China.

The stellar role played by Russia in the making of modern India post-independence was rightly emphasized by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his media statement while pointing out that when President Putin and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee launched the annual Summit process in 2000, and when Vajpayee went to the second summit in Moscow in November 2001, he was there to sign the sister-state agreement between Gujarat and Astrakhan.

Sample the following remarks from Modi: “The steadfast support of the people of Russia for India has been there even at difficult moments in our history. It has been a pillar of strength for India's development, security and international relations. India, too, has always stood with Russia through its own challenges. The character of global politics and international relations is changing. However, the importance of this relationship and its unique place in India's foreign policy will not change. In many ways, its significance to both countries will grow further in the future.”

The two sides have also decided to revive their good old defense partnership, albeit in a new avatar. Not too long ago Russia used to command an over 80 per cent share of India’s defense arsenal. Today it has fallen to just about 60 per cent. The US has already taken over as India’s number one defense supplier, nudging Russia to the second position.

The new Indo-Russian initiative involves Russia producing state-of-the-art multi-role helicopters in Indian factories to cut down on costs and time overruns. This deal, for which the two principals gave their approval on Thursday, will be worth $3 billion once formally signed.

This will be the first major defense project under Prime Minister Modi’s pet scheme ‘Make-in-India’. What sweetens the deal further for India is that India will be at liberty to export these helicopters to third countries. The Indian Prime Minister assured that his government will follow up on the helicopter project quickly.

Modi put Russia’s significance in Indian defense in perspective as follows: “Russia has been India's foremost defense partner through the decades. My first visit outside Delhi as Prime Minister was to our new aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya. It sails our seas as a great symbol of our defense cooperation. Even as India's options have increased today, Russia will remain our most important defense partner. We have conducted joint exercises across all three wings of the Armed Forces in the last six months. President Putin and I discussed a broad range of new defense projects. We also discussed how to align our defense relations to India's own priorities, including ‘Make in India’.”

In conclusion, one can say that Putin’s visit to India would rank at the very top in the list of incoming Prime Ministerial and Presidential visits to India in the year 2014.

Most importantly, the just-concluded 15th India-Russia annual summit has laid out a specific decadal roadmap for bringing about a complete transformation in the Indo-Russian bilateral ties and taking them to a much higher trajectory than ever before.

[TsarSamuil]

China and Russia to launch new credit rating agency in 2015.

RT.com
January 13, 2015 14:17

The new Universal Credit Rating Group (UCRG) is being set up to rival the existing agencies Moody's, S&P and Fitch, and its first rating will be issued this year.

The setting up of UCRG is in its final stages, ready to challenge the ‘Big Three’ that currently dominate the industry, the Managing Director of RusRating Aleksandr Ovchinnikov told Sputnik News Agency on Tuesday.

"In our opinion, the first ratings [will] appear … during the current year," Ovchinnikov said, adding that accreditation with the local regulator is already underway.

The news comes on the heels of Fitch’s decision to follow S&P in downgrading Russia’s sovereign credit rating to BBB-, a step above junk level and on par with India and Turkey.

The new agency will be based in Hong Kong, and provide a check on the ‘Big Three’, which some analysts say don’t provide an accurate reading of economic situations.

Many securities and bonds in the US that had triple-A ratings in 2008 and were considered ‘safe’, turned out to be a bubble, revealed by the subprime mortgage crisis.

"When the issue of creating an agency alternative to the ‘Big Three’ [Standard & Poor's, Moody's, and Fitch Group] was raised, we in fact offered [ a ] project that was ready to be launched and was supported by the governments of Russia and China," Ovchinnikov said.

Developed economies are often given a free credit rating pass, whereas developing economies are assigned more risky ratings, the RusRating analyst said.

UCRG was officially created in June 2013 by China’s Dagon, Russia’s RusRating and America's Egan-Jones Ratings. Each member will hold an equal share in the venture, with an initial investment of $9 million.