CAREFUL ON OPTICS

RUSSIA AND THE EAEU HAVE BECOME PRIORITY DESTINATIONS, AS NEW DELHI WORKS TO OFFSET RISING PRESSURE ON ITS TRADE

- Shivaji Sarkar

The currency crisis is bound to impact India growth. Indeed, a deep crisis is ahead. The falling rupee is likely to hit the common man’s pocket as domestic fuel prices may rise sharply despite a global thaw in crude prices. Would Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit, his close embrace and promises, make a difference? Putin’s visit may help New Delhi in many spheres but not in the crude oil sector. Russian crude has impacted Indians, though they never benefitted from the deals. The benefit was only for two companies, one Indian and the other Russian, Their profits alone swelled, while people, government and companies continued to buy fuel at high prices.

India-Russia ties go back to the Soviet era and have endured irrespective of the changing geopolitical landscape, this time coinciding with New Delhi’s talks with the US on a trade deal to cut punitive tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump on its goods over India’s purchases of Russian oil. Trump has been breathing down each movement of Indo-Russian ties. There was even news that the plane Putin was travelling to New Delhi had the most-monitored movements. Trump shadows all.