The Little Seven: Putin questioned the economic power of the West
The large-scale economic sanctions of the West did not lead to the expected decrease in the activity of the BRICS members. The statements of the leaders at the group's Business Forum in New Delhi clearly confirmed that the previous model is breaking down, and new centers of power are replacing the "old leaders" of the last century. Vladimir Putin recalled that over the past five years, the BRICS countries have produced more than 40% of global GDP, while the contribution of the "Big Seven" amounted to only 29%. The article "Izvestia" describes how Iran offers to insure large projects, why the humanoid robot Green eventually prepared for the arrival of the leaders of Russia and India in vain, and what a symbolic gift Narendra Modi presented to Vladimir Putin.
How India surprised the Russian delegation
This is the second time in the last few months that Vladimir Putin has arrived in India. From the very first minutes, New Delhi, a government district considered the official capital of the state, breaks the usual stereotypes about this country.
The central streets are greeted with almost perfect cleanliness, there is no Indian noise here, and there are surprisingly few people for a country of billions. Public utilities have been on duty since morning at the Gyarah Murti monument, depicting Mahatma Gandhi with a staff at the head of his associates, washing the monument with water.
The view of the well-kept neighborhoods that the Russian delegation found even causes slight disappointment among those who were waiting for colorful chaos. Of course, there were street tents along the roads, but exactly the same paintings can be seen today in Paris and Los Angeles. Perhaps the only thing that really pleased the eye and reminded of the familiar India were the traditional three-wheeled tuk-tuks scurrying everywhere.
The reason for the president's current trip was the BRICS summit, which starts on September 12. However, a busy program awaited the Russian leader on Friday. Putin began the Indian part of his visit with talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the second face—to-face meeting between the leaders in less than two weeks. The last time they saw each other was on August 31 in Bishkek at the SCO summit. Such a density of contacts in itself shows that Moscow and New Delhi are striving to confirm the stability of a particularly privileged strategic partnership in a difficult period for international relations.
"" At the meeting, Modi presented Putin with a book translated into Russian, " "Tirukural,"" written 2,000 years ago in India by poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar. This is a sign of sincere respect for the interlocutor. Moreover, as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov clarified, "this book is about the basics of governance," with comments from Modi himself.
For India, Russia remains an important oil supplier and a reliable partner in the military and nuclear fields. Moreover, friendship with Moscow helps the country to balance confidently in world politics and not depend on any one center of power. However, the Ukrainian conflict has turned this partnership into a more complex structure: New Delhi has not joined Western sanctions, sharply increased purchases of Russian oil and benefited from discounts, but has to take into account the risks to trade with the United States and Europe, as well as concerns of companies and banks about secondary restrictions, said Alexey, head of the IMEMO RAS Indian Ocean Region Center. Kupriyanov.
Economic partnership
After the bilateral talks, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi went to "Innoprom. India". 146 companies presented their products here: 110 from Russia and 36 from India. All of them work in key industries for both countries, from mechanical engineering, metallurgy and mining to nuclear energy.
However, the atmosphere, despite the scale of the event, was surprisingly calm. The only one who seemed to be getting ready for the arrival of the two leaders was an anthropomorphic robot from Sberbank named Green. He had to rehearse in very difficult conditions.: first, Green was thoroughly sniffed by service dogs, and then checked by security personnel with a scanner in their hands.
— It was created in order to help a person in a warehouse or in a laboratory, — the representatives of the bank explained.
But for some reason, Green decided to show Putin and Modi his physical skills in a completely different field. No one could answer the question of how exactly his dancing skills would be useful to him in the same warehouse. However, the robot did not manage to demonstrate its movements in the end: it was unexpectedly and without explanation taken away from the site even before the leaders arrived.
Green and similar machines certainly have a future, and robotics can be considered one of the most promising areas of bilateral cooperation between Russia and India. The parties are now striving to bring mutual trade to $100 billion by 2030. However, this is not just about increasing current volumes: trade has already reached about $60 billion, with India's imports from Russia amounting to about $55 billion, and oil accounts for more than 80% of our supplies to the Indian market.
That is why further progress towards the goal cannot be ensured by the previous model — even more crude oil exports, Alexey Kupriyanov said. The main priority for Moscow and New Delhi is to equalize the trade balance by increasing Indian exports (pharmaceuticals, chemicals and mechanical engineering), which should be facilitated by the early conclusion of a free trade agreement between India and the EAEU, added Yuri Mavashev, lecturer at the Department of World Politics and World Economy at the RANEPA Institute of Management.
The parties will have to complete projects in the field of civil nuclear power plant "Kudankulam" and develop initiatives in the field of rare earth metals. In the field of logistics, transport connectivity remains a key challenge: accelerating work on the Chennai—Vladivostok corridor, developing land-based multimodal routes to South Asia, and assessing the commercial potential of the Northern Sea Route, the expert concluded.
BRICS Business Forum
The issues that Russia and India are trying to solve face—to—face, such as difficulties with money transfers, logistics, risk insurance, and withdrawal from the Western financial system, are equally acute for all BRICS members. Therefore, the participation of leaders in the group's Business Forum is not just a formality for the sake of a beautiful photo. This is a platform where Russia and India, together with their partners, can turn bilateral problems into common solutions for the entire association.
President of Iran Masoud Pezeshkian and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin during the plenary session of the BRICS Business Forum
At the plenary session, the Russian president took a seat next to Iranian President Masoud Peseshkian, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira (Lula da Silva was absent due to the upcoming elections).
One of the central topics of the discussions that began was the rapid change in the international situation and the growing Western sanctions pressure on the members of the association. In particular, the Iranian president, who arrived in New Delhi, spoke about the inadmissibility of using unilateral sanctions as an instrument of economic blackmail. The South African president, who is also concerned about unilateral sanctions, is confident that developing countries should no longer remain just raw materials appendages and suppliers of resources to the rest of the world, but should develop their own production.
Such actions only push the BRICS countries towards closer integration. About 30,000 different restrictions have already been imposed against Russia, which is almost twice the number of sanctions against all other countries of the world combined, Putin said.
— Even tools of direct physical impact or destruction of industrial and logistics facilities, pipelines, and so on are used. Attempts are being made to block international transport corridors, seize naval vessels, and illegal restrictions are being applied along with threats of so—called secondary sanctions against those who do not agree to act in other people's interests, but protect their national interests," the Russian president continued.
But even in these difficult conditions, structural changes have been launched in the Russian economy, they have made it stronger, more stable and more mobile, he added.
For Moscow and Tehran, which are under unprecedented external pressure, the summit was another opportunity to demonstrate how the policy of isolation has failed, and new centers of power are ready to jointly shape the contours of a multipolar world. At the same time, Iran proposed to create a joint reinsurance company within the framework of the BRICS with an initial capital of $ 10 billion to cover the risks of large infrastructure and energy projects.
The Russian President could not resist irony towards Western opponents, noting that over the past five years, the BRICS countries have produced more than 40% of global GDP, while the contribution of the "Big Seven" amounted to only 29%. "Why "big" is it, I don't understand," the Russian leader was surprised. ""According to him, the world is undergoing a period of transformation, and the former "old leaders" of the last century are inevitably replaced by new engines of development: "Of course, when I say "old", it's conditional. But we all understand what it's about." At the same time, the Russian president stressed that Moscow does not intend to shut itself off from anyone and is ready to work with the whole world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, whose country regularly faces open pressure from Washington, knows firsthand about the methods used by Western countries. It was with him that Vladimir Putin held talks after their joint participation in the BRICS Business Forum. For Ramaphosa, who will not be able to attend the upcoming Russia-Africa summit in person due to the difficult election campaign that started at home before the November municipal elections, this meeting at the BRICS venue in India was the most important opportunity to check his watch face—to-face with the Russian leader.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
