There is one war going on for over six months between Ukraine and Russia, and another brewing between China and Taiwan. Analysts from USA are doing their best to goad India into supporting Ukraine against Russia in that conflict; and supporting Taiwan against China in the simmering tensions of the South China sea.
What the Americans and their choir-boys fail to understand that India is a vibrant democracy where the political power structure is determined by the voters; at State and National levels. Being a multi-party democracy, no political party, however strong or invincible, it might consider itself; is willing to go against the interests of the people, especially the voters.
The maximum number of voters in India are from the hard-working, daily toiling lower and middle-classes. Their lives revolve around their own local environment; the neighborhood where they live, their children's schools, the local medical facilities; and for entertainment, sports played their own localities, and of-course the multi-channel TV that offers a variety of instant entertainment for relaxation. Their interest in news is mostly restricted to local events, and any news beyond their town or city, or even beyond their district boundaries is immaterial for daily consumption.
The majority of Indians do not know the locations of either Ukraine or Taiwan on the world map, and they really don’t care on the events in those countries. The average Indian cares about, and carefully monitors events that impact local lifestyles; especially fuel prices. Even the slightest hike in fuel prices provokes protests against the government and its representatives. This means the Government is under constant pressure to find the cheapest energy resources across the globe, and has to disregard the fake animosities of Western influences. Survival of our politicians is dependent on keeping the voters constantly happy, even if it means isolating India from the world. This is highly relevant to the import of crude oil and LNG at the cheapest possible prices; and when Russia offers our energy needs at highly discounted prices, we are going to buy in large quantities; the West (and Ukraine) be damned.
Recently, Dmytro Kuleba the foreign minister of Ukraine made a melodramatic and rather silly statement that, ‘crude oil from Russia (imported by India) is tainted by Ukrainian blood’; to which an average Indian will respond with, ‘who cares?’ Indians; who are mostly full of empathy and also sympathy for the hardships of others, cannot be empathetic with a country they don’t know or can identify with, and this applies equally to Russia.
With respect to Taiwan, Indian international politics works on a different equation as compared to Ukraine. India lost a war against China in 1962, an abject lesson in defeat that has not been forgotten, and is constantly in a state of conflict on the India–China border, with an unwanted and tragic body-count on both sides on a regular basis. If China is broken and weakened in its fight over Taiwan, it's good news for India. But this does not affect the average Indian directly. Indians are more concerned over how much cheaper can they acquire Chinese consumer goods, especially mobile phones and laptops; rather than the safety and security of Taiwan. Indians are aware that many electronic devices in their homes are powered by chips and other components made in Taiwan, but the risk of Indians losing access to these is not a priority thought process, by any means.
In conclusion, western political commentators who are criticizing India for its neutral stance in both the Ukraine conflict and potential Taiwan conflict must understand that the politics of India is driven by its voters and not by think-tanks and political analysts.
