Abhijit Iyer-Mitra
Indian military strategy expert Abhijit Iyer-Mitra has been regularly consulted in India on Indian foreign policy in general and on the war in Ukraine in particular. His straight-talking style, though often controversial, offers clear insight into why India has been reticent in condemning Russia.
For instance, in this long format interview he emphasizes the crucial factor that Russian military hardware is cheap. In an unflattering simile, he compares Russian weapons to cheap air-conditioning devices on the Indian market which break down after 2 years. American equipment is like a much more expensive AC machine - pricey but with a 10-year guarantee.
From this simple fact Iyer-Mitra draws two important conclusions:
1. Russia has greater capacity to continue fighting the war. "Russia will win the war because "quantity is also quality", to quote Stalin." There is a "depth" to Russia's arsenal, whereas Ukraine is dependent on ongoing deliveries from abroad.
2. India faces a challenge to become independent of Russia because of the greater costs, however it has already begun to place orders for higher quality drones, for example, in the US.
Iyer-Mitra also emphasizes a clear point from India's perspective. India has a strategic interest in not encouraging a powerful alliance between Russia and China. Alienating Russia could "push Russia into China's arms".
Dr Subramanian Swamy
Dr Subramanian Swamy is a well-known politician currently representing the ruling BJP party and endorsing its Hindu-nationalist or "Hindutva" ideology. He has had a distinguished but chequered career as an academic economist - he has lost positions due to his support for the free market at a time when socialism was popular India, but he has also lost a position at Harvard for "offensive remarks" about Muslims.
Subramanian Swamy has, for example in this debate entitled "Which side should India be: Ukraine or Russia", argued that India owes no deep loyalty to Russia. The Soviet Union was an ally to India in particular when the USA was closer to Pakistan, India's enemy and when the US was suspicious of socialist tendencies in India.
Swamy argues that Russia, however, has no privileged status today for India - as just one of the the former Soviet republics. India could just as well claim its loyalties lie with Ukraine as a post-Soviet state.
The very title of this debate would shock most European countries (the debate includes both Iyer-Mitra and Subramanian Swamy as participants):
Sources: Youtube/Which side should India be?, Hindustan Times
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