The Indian rice export ban, the war in Ukraine and El Niño are combining to create a "doom loop" for the world's poorest people, as staple food prices soar.
TIL that 40.5% of the world’s rice comes from India. That’s a lot of rice that’s no longer going to be circulating in the global market.
Seems like this is also going to have the largest impact on Africa, who have also been impacted by the lack of grain exports from Ukraine since Russia invaded.
India is not a friend of the west or civilized world. They can do whatever they want, their prerogative, but India is dead to me, my prerogative.
Russia, India, China : locations I do not consider friendly and as such they can go to hell. These countries are screwing themselves and generations to come.
I wonder what this will mean for their farmers. Won’t they just be tempted to scale down farming operations? If I go to the shop here it’s basically all Indian brand rice if not for the supermarket brand ones (which is probably Indian too).
As far as I can make out the Indian export ban is in response to the grain export strikes by Russia in Odessa. Fewer alternative grains coming in necessitates not exporting what there will be a higher internal demand for.
Russia has attacked a key part of the world’s basic food supply. I’ll be amazed if this conflict doesn’t get bigger.
And historically, India has suffered some of the most horrific famines in the history of humanity as a consequence of international trade decisions. So you can understand why they're protective of their own internal food supply.
The Indians are also going through a lot of efforts to continue to support or at least not interfere with Russia in this war. Likely because they rely so intensely on Russian equipment and armaments for their military. Not to mention their apparent continuing love of cheap Russian fossil exports.
The way I see it, they know they have food for their own people even if the world starves because of all this. I don't really think the Indian government has a long-term view here, and in the short term their partnership with Russia seems too painful to end for them even if it seems inevitable that it must from an outside perspective.
Historically, chaining yourself to right wing dictatorships is a great way to protect your citizens. Except for always.
This persecution complex straw man is unhelpful. There's an actually persecuted party here and it is Ukraine. Propping up the belligerent in the war means you cannot plea neutrality in the conflict.
When you have 1.4 BILLION of the poorest human beings on the planet to protect, I think it means you can. India is not a rich, western, developed nation. They have different priorities by necessity. The citizens of the United States and Europe do not face literally starving to death based on our political decisions. If we did, you would see much, much different decisions being made.
So they're being coerced into helping fund a war of aggression and genocide by their own domestic issues? I guess it's a coherent ethical argument, at least.
Still seems like a huge fucking mistake that will hurt them in the long view, though. Their reliance on Russian arms weakens their national defense and the dependency on blood-discount Russian fossil fuel exports is a poison pill in so many ways.
Referring to dragging a country out of literal starvation poverty after two centuries of calculated, corporatized, colonial looting as a "domestic issue" is a choice, I guess.
So it's really the entire west that is forcing them to fund this genocidal war of aggression and everyone else is to blame. There was literally no other option available to them and their government has no errors or responsibility.
I'll just refer you back up to the previous comment. There is a directly persecuted victim on this issue. India is assisting in that persecution by funding the Russian war machine. There are other options available to them, and pursuing those other options would confer myriad diplomatic and trade opportunities in relationships with other, non-Russia nations. It is a choice they are making and doubling down on to align themselves with Russia.
India is not a helpless baby wailing on the roadside, as you imply. It is an scientific and industrial powerhouse. That, yes, has to face huge social issues for a huge number of historical causes many of which were outside of their control. There are other options than giving cash to Putin.
edit: I am sympathetic to your point of view. The west generally does view India with pretty shallow bullshit contempt. But I won't descend into moral relativism. Some things are wrong, and material support of the Russian Federation from a nation that absolutely knows better is one of those things right now.
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