Will the world be split in two again?
Russia seeks new alliances: how much are India and China involved?
--
New concerns loom over the West. The ambiguous neutrality of some countries increasingly represents their support for Russia, neutralizing or limiting the effects of the four packages of sanctions already imposed by the European Union to Moscow, while the conflict in Ukraine does not cease. In particular, in recent days, more and more attention needs to be paid to India.
Indeed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently flew to New Delhi to thank the Indian government for not clearly siding with the Western powers. In other words, Russia thanks the nationalist government of Narendra Modi for the important escape route it is offering, namely the purchase of new oil supplies and an alternative to SWIFT (international payment network) for rupee-ruble payments.
India is a member of the Quad (an alliance that also includes the United States, Australia and Japan), but has never yet condemned the Russian invasion, with which instead it has excellent commercial relations for the purchase of oil and weapons. The role of New Dehli in the international arena could therefore now prove decisive for Moscow’s attempt to form a “new, more fair international order”, according to Lavrov. In short, the world is once again discovering itself in opposing blocks.
If the agreemts are signed, Russia could thus sell oil directly to India at a discount of up to USD 35 per barrel, compared to prices before the start of the war with Ukraine. To avoid the Baltic route, crude oil would arrive in less than twenty days on the eastern Indian coasts from the port of Vladivostock. In addition, to bypass the international SWIFT payments system, Moscow could offer payments denominated in rubles and rupees through the SPFS system, which would involve the Russian giant Rosneft and the Indian Oil Corporation.
