The diplomacy in a fast-paced world revolves around the law of conservation of power. By power here I mean sources of energy which can drive moving objects at their utmost speeds. In the last 100 years, fossil fuels have changed the face of the Arab World. Now that the world is moving away from fossil fuels, there is a renewed competition to grab the first movers advantage. This intense competition will see diplomacy at its absolute ruthlessness, business wars in extreme forms, and manhandling of the legal system. With their intentions clearly made out, the so-called first world has hit India and Adani with their first hammer.
Recently Gautam Adani, his nephew Sagar Adani, and six others were indicted by American prosecutors in New York district court. In the USA, they are facing charges of bribing Indian officials to more than Rs 2,000 crore for buying power produced by Adani Green and Azure Power.
Additionally, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also charged Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani of Adani Green Energy Ltd. and Cyril Cabanes of Azure Power Global Ltd. with raising $ 175 million by presenting false materials.
If Adani has done one or all of these, he is absolutely wrong and deserves both public and legal scrutiny. But what if everyone does it, or rather everyone – especially businesspeople is forced to do it? So, why aren’t others being prosecuted for the same? I am sure the FBI and CIA have data about all of it, they should do it.
They are not doing it to everyone. Nonetheless, why is there a renewed zeal to crucify the Adani group at a time when the outgoing Biden administration should not have been taking crucial decisions that have larger ramifications including geopolitical implications?
With its strong partisan divide, American agencies are notorious for picking and choosing their targets based on the politics and ideology of the day. So if Republicans are in power, they will go after Hunter Biden, similarly, if Democrats are in power, they will go after Donald Trump and people close to him.
That is why a term called lawfare is prevalent in their system. The term gained prominence in the political correctness movement in the aftermath of 9/11-related arrests. It mainly refers to the selective application of legal principles and clauses on a particular entity.
This is against the idea of equal protection of the law. Charges against Adani and seven others can be dropped if upcoming American President Donald Trump rules this kind of legal hounding as unjust.
There is another legal principle called mens rea which tells us why Adani would be indicted. His success has come at a big cost and it has given detractors an opportunity to hound him. The second richest man in Asia has businesses in solar manufacturing, logistics, industrial land, defence, aerospace, fruits, data centres, road, rail, real estate lending, coal, and many more.
Adani Power is the largest private thermal power producer in India. But it’s Adani Green Energy Limited(AGEL) that is making massive strides.
AGEL is the biggest player in India’s renewable energy sector. In September 2024, it joined the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) – a mechanism established at COP28 for developing grids fit for renewable energy. In the same month, it also announced a strategic joint venture worth $444 million with TotalEnergies – a French multinational integrated energy and petroleum company.
In April this year, AGEL became the first Indian company to surpass 10,000 MW of renewable energy. By 2030, it aims to build a renewable energy capacity of 45GW.
Adani Solar is also one of the remarkable companies operating in the Green energy segment.
Together they give India big leverage all across the world. For instance, India’s leadership in the International Solar Alliance (ISA) draws its credibility from the country’s push in the Green Energy segment. Incidentally, Adani has played a key role in it.
ISA comprises more than 120 countries and is headquartered in Gurugram, India. It is currently one of the biggest multilateral foras after the United Nations and if given proper leadership will emerge as a key element in changing diplomacy around the Green energy push.
The fact that it is headquartered in India is a headache for established powers like USA and China. Before ISA, new multilateral institutions like BRICS, WTO, ASEAN, ADB, SCO, and many others were headquartered outside India.
On climate deals, India has been constantly pushing the West to make more compromises. Recently, it even rejected its new $300 billion worth of lollipop.
This kind of dominance is a headache for the West and China. The US has been sanctioning Indian businesses for the last two years. Other companies like Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holding faced a short-seller attack from U.S. hedge fund Muddy Waters.
All of this has come at a time when Indian companies’ stakes in global infrastructure are increasing at an exponential rate. Adani has aggressively led from the front and has grabbed key infrastructure projects in Israel, Australia, Asia, and Europe among others. His victories often come at the expense of China’s Belt and Road initiative.
He is a key irritant for established powers and has a remarkable ability to keep coming at them despite multiple attacks against him on multiple fronts. Ultimately, the only option left for India’s detractors is to engage him and India in a guerilla warfare of business rivalries.
Rather than destroying such a large conglomerate in one go, this new strategy focuses on giving multiple blows at periodic intervals. Ultimately, rating agencies will start downgrading the group itself. The strategy has worked in the short run.
We do not know whether Adani is guilty or not, but what we do know is that he is becoming trouble for big companies due to competitive expansion. It is hard to believe that the law will be fairly applied against him.
Donald Trump himself has seen it during the course of his rise, especially the onslaught ahead of the recently concluded US Presidential election. Incidentally, the fresh round of attack on Gautam Adani and his ventures came just weeks after he had lauded Donald Trump following his historic return to the White House. Let us see whether Trump will help him stave off this latest round of attack or not.
