On April 17-18, 2022, readers responded to my rather harsh April 17, 2022, comments at INDO-RUSSIAN Economic Pact undoing QUAD?:
Gessler argued the Indo-Russian
economic relationship was “comparatively minor”…”India's energy imports from
Russia are miniscule.” With Russia supplying “less than 1%” of India’s energy
imports. Gessler quoted "Europe buys more oil from Russia in an afternoon
than India does in a month". Russia is selling energy to India at a
discount price (meaning the Russians sell at a loss).
Gessler argued words to the effect - better that India retains strategic links (mainly arms buying) from Russia, rather than pushing Russia into a closer strategic and arms relationship with China. It would be unfortunate if Russia became so economically (including arms trade) dependent that advanced Russian nuclear submarine and aero engine bureaus/companies were sold to China - intellectual property rights and all.
"As of a QUAD without India, I'd think any geo-economic containment of China would either fail or at the very least introduce a whole degree of uncertainty in the minds of several Asian & South-East Asians nations if India were not on board with it."
"But I doubt it would
happen though - India is no more dependent or friendly with Russia today than [India] was back in 2017 when the "QUAD 2.0" started. [If anything India] is
less friendly to Russia now - thanks to being spited by Russia by way of
exclusion from the 'Extended Troika' peace process for Afghanistan.
Pete Comment
No one can reasonably expect that India will shelve its non-aligned stance that has served it well for at least 60 years. During World War Two non-aligned/neutral Sweden (eg. Bofors) and Switzerland traded heavily and exchanged intelligence with the Allies and with Germany. There was no lasting damage to Sweden's and Switzerland's international reputation.
Countries just have to accept friendly countries having different foreign policy outlooks. For example, Australia has a "Partners across the globe" relationship with NATO - which is one of many reasons Australia is concerned about Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
India's possession of nuclear weapons backs up its non-alignment and this possession also makes India a valuable member of the QUAD. India's large conventional forces and geographical position (bordering China and in the Indian Ocean) also make India a useful QUAD member.
India is understandably unhappy being excluded from the "Extended Troika" process in which Pakistan, China, the US and Russia have been discussing the latest situation in Afghanistan. Pakistan hosted one of the meetings in Islamabad, November 11, 2021, and China hosted another meeting on March 31, 2022.
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