India Aims to Boost Imports of Russian Coal Via Vladivostok
来源：InfoBrics;发表于:2024-04-23;人气指数:42
Tuesday, April
23, 2024
India Aims to Boost Imports of
Russian Coal Via Vladivostok
Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and
political economy researcher
Indian Consul General in Vladivostok
Siddarth Gowrav visited the soon-to-be-unveiled Sukhodol coal
terminal in Vladivostok as part of efforts to expand maritime cooperation
with the Indian ports of Paradip and Jaigarh, which handled the largest
quantities of Russian coal in the first quarter of 2024. This announcement
comes as the US continues to escalate its smearing of India, this time by
alleging that minorities are under threat.
“The overall functioning, technological
capacities and capabilities of the port were presented along with its latest
developments and plans for further expansion, opportunities for India - Russia
maritime cooperation were also discussed,” Gowrav said on social media.
With an initial capacity of 12
million tonnes per annum, Sukhodol port will enable “small and
medium-sized coal companies” to have year-round navigation and a dedicated
train station, thus ensuring that Russia can continue delivering coal even in
the harshest winter conditions. This is critical for energy-hungry India, which
imported around 6.1 million tonnes of Russian coal at 16 ports between January
and March 2024, thus making Russia the fourth-biggest supplier of coal to the
South Asian country.
Coal exports to India from Russia have
only risen over the last half decade and are projected to continue increasing
despite the constant barrage of pressure New Delhi experiences from the West
for not severing ties with Moscow and imposing US-led sanctions. Signalling the
increasing relations is the fact that India’s eastern seaports are now taking
precedence over western seaports, where Russian cargo must traverse European
and, therefore, hostile waters.
Vladivostok, Russia’s most important
city and port in the Far East, as well as Nakhodka and Sakhalin, mostly exports
coal to China and, previously, South Korea, which slowed down after Russia
launched its military operation against Ukraine. Although India is a viable
replacement for South Korea, facilities had to be upgraded to boost coal
imports to India’s eastern ports, which have a much lower transportation time
to Vladivostok than the country’s western ports connecting with Russia’s
western ports.
Tensions in the Red Sea have caused
costs from Russia’s western ports to rise as ships now need to take longer
routes around Africa. This makes Vladivostok more critical, even if Russian
coal imports will continue to be unloaded at ports on its western and eastern
coasts in the foreseeable future.
Due to New Delhi’s unapologetic boosting
of relations with Moscow, which are founded on longstanding ties from the Cold
War era, the West continues to target India, even if there are convergences of
mutual interest, such as opposition to China.
In the most recent example, the
US Congressional Research Service (CRS) falsely claimed in a report
that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) enacted on March 11 could
potentially breach India’s Constitution and expressed concern that the planned National
Register of Citizens (NRC) could target the rights of India’s 210 million
or so Muslim population.
It is recalled that US State
Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said following the enactment of the CAA
that the White House was closely monitoring the amendment and that “religious
freedom and equal treatment under the law for all communities are fundamental
democratic principles,” even though no minority rights would be violated. At
the time, New Delhi responded by demanding that Washington not interfere in
India’s internal matters.
Despite the demand, it is unlikely that
the US will refrain from interfering in India’s internal affairs and, in fact,
will continue to instigate issues, such as by tolerating separatist groups on
its territory, like the Khalistanis, Sikh zealots who seek an independent
country in northwest India. As India is an emerging power that in the coming
decades can also challenge US global hegemony, Washington wants to control
India and believes this can be achieved through instability, such as supporting
independence movements, and by targeting India’s economic growth, such as
discouraging the fruitful trade relations with Russia by issuing sanction
threats.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “India
First” policy means that New Delhi is intolerant of any interference from the
US, even if, as mentioned, there are convergences in their opposition to
China’s rise. Although the US successfully interfered in Pakistan’s internal
affairs, Washington’s attempts to influence India’s and Bangladesh’s recent
elections have failed, showing that American influence in the region overall is
waning.
India’s dependence on the US continues
to decrease, especially as relations with Russia continue to flourish, which
does not interfere in the affairs of South Asia. Although it would be in
Washington’s interest to maintain good relations with New Delhi vis-à-vis
China, India’s neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict frustrates
policymakers and explains why there is a continued smear campaign against the
country.
Source: InfoBrics