Russia is losing one of its biggest arms buyers to the West:
India is very unhappy with Russian sloppiness in handling large projects, like refurbishing a decommissioned Cold War era carrier for them. This project has been a financial disaster for India. Worse yet, as India has bought more Western (Israeli, European and American) weapons they have noted the differences in performance and service. Even Russia has had a hard time absorbing Western tech and continues to lag the West in military equipment effectiveness and reliability. India has found that Western tech is not only superior but transfers more readily than the Russian stuff and is more of a benefit to the overall Indian economy.
India was supposed to serve as the Asian lynchpin to the Anglosphere, but the relationship built up under Bush has been allowed to languish under Obama. We’ll sell them some weapon, sure, but we won’t have the diplomatic or cultural clout to keep pushing for westernization at a more fundamental level. This, despite Obama’s “pivot” to Asia and the Pacific.
But then I don’t suppose the Anglosphere was ever seen positively by Obama.
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