Russian shipments for Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

Shipment for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant: Indian Foreign Service officers who plied their trade in the 20th century know how much disrespect they suffered due to weak foreign policy. Luckily, that is not true for present officers. They can move around with uptight body language. India is openly challenging the West, and they can’t do anything other than watch.

India helps Russia and Bangladesh

According to a report by the Economic Times, India is facilitating the availability of Russian shipments for Bangladesh’s Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP). The ship with the Russian flag arrived at Bangladesh’s Mongla port at the end of December 2022. The problem arose when the Bangladeshi government refused to unload it for transportation to the power plant.

The one and only reason behind it is Bangladesh’s government’s lack of courage. The Sheikh Hasina government does not want to antagonise the Ukraine lobby. It is understandable since the country is relatively small and does not have the clout to enable it to stand up against the big boys.

That is not the case with India. It has its own sphere of influence. Based on it, India-Russia trade has more than tripled in the last 10 months. To add insult to injury for western powers, the oil trade has largely dominated the bilateral trade basket.

Oil is a thorny issue for the west since oil revenue comprises more than 30 percent of the Russian federal budget. They have used derogatory terms like “India funding the war,” but India has remained unflustered and defiant of western sanctions. Even with the price cap, the west has bowed to India by providing a special concession for it.

Also read: Bangladesh and India are finally going to have a formal conversation about the Rohingya cancer

Haldia Port will take the load

These exemplary records are testament to India’s dominance. No wonder the first country to jump in to protect the interests of both Bangladesh and Russia was India. Reportedly, the sanction-hit Russian ship hovering in the Bay of Bengal is coming to Haldia Port in West Bengal. From Haldia port, either a vessel flying the Indian flag will take it to Rooppur or the consignment will be delivered through road transport.

Kalachand Singh, Authority Secretary at Mongla Port, said, “We have learned that the cargo from the vessel can be unloaded at the Haldia port in India’s West Bengal. From there, another vessel could carry the cargo for the Rooppur power plant.

India is also fulfilling its commitments made to Russia for projects in third countries. In 2017, both countries declared that they would assist each other in their projects in third countries. The resolve was repeated in the India-Russia joint statement during Putin’s visit to India in 2018.

Also read: India must help Bangladesh to get out of its mess, but with conditions

India has stood up to bullies

In any case, hitting a country like Bangladesh is a gross injustice and a violation of international conventions. The fact is that the Russia-Bangladesh partnership for the project predates the Ukraine-Russia skirmish. Any activity related to power plants should not have come under the sanctions regime. The sanctions regime is bad enough for the European Union, which has a per capita GDP of nearly $31,650. Imagine how it would affect a country like Bangladesh, with a per capita GDP less than 10 percent of that of the EU.

However, the West lives in a post-modern world where logic is viewed as a villain. Someone had to show them the way. India is doing that. Ultimately, the West’s loss is India’s gain. The thing is that due to irrationalities like these, the west, especially America, is continuously losing its relevance. It is an excellent opportunity for India to accelerate its decline, especially in the eyes of countries located in its neighbourhood.

Also read: India has treated Bangladesh with kid gloves all this while, the policy needs a rejig

And there is no better way to do it than to take the initiative like a leader would do. Countries need to see how India, which was once in the derogatory league of “third world countries” of western nations, has increased its stake. Additionally, they are also seeing how India has shed its image of a loved and cute nation and replaced it with a respected one.

Every country inimical to India’s interests, which include China, fears India. For the past year, India has ensured that the west’s moral outbursts have been muffled by reminding them of their own historical wrongs. They are really fearing the beautiful amalgamation of hard power and soft power that India represents.

India is proving to be a better alternative to China. It is using it to increase pan-Asian influence. Global influence is directly proportional to regional influence. The ground is set for that.