INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Indians see the US as the greatest military threat after China and location greater blame on NATO and Washington than on Vladimir Putin for
his war in Ukraine, according to a new study.
Some 43 percent of the 1,000 participants viewed China-- with whom India has a long-lingering
border dispute and has seen tensions flare again because 2020-- as the best risk, according to the study by Morning Consult, a US-based
worldwide service intelligence company.
22 per cent saw the United States as the second-most significant security risk, ahead of Indias
historical arch-rival Pakistan, the study showed.
While the worlds 2 biggest democracies would seem to produce natural partners,
specifically offered their mutual mistrust of China, Indians have strategic factors to be wary of the worlds Western superpower, according
to Sonnet Frisbie and Scott Moskowitz, who supervised the survey released on Tuesday
As stress in between Washington and Beijing increase, the Indian public might be worried about getting caught in the middle of a US-China
dispute that destabilizes regional security, putting India at danger
The issues shown in the survey-- conducted Oct
14-15-- about the dangers from Washington continue despite the South Asian countrys closer partnership with the US, Australia, and Japan--
or the Quad, a grouping of democracies formed to counter Beijings economic and military ambitions.
India has stayed neutral on the Russian
war in Ukraine regardless of pressure from its Quad partners-- refraining from UN censure votes, while advising a diplomatic service to ease
the food and fertilizer crunch set off by the crisis
It has also continued to get cheap Russian oil.The survey discovered that 60 per cent of the respondents want the government to continue
acquiring oil from Russia and 48 per cent of them said Russia needs to remain Indias favored military devices service provider, compared to
Some 49 per cent likewise want Prime Minister Narendra Modis government to continue military exercises with the country.
More Indians blame
the US and NATO for the war because historical ties with Russia formed throughout the Cold War and Indias post-independence period run much
deeper than Indias relatively new relationship with the US, said Shumita Deveshwar, India research study senior director at TS Lombard
Russia as the main provider of weapons and cheap oil to India is also embedded in the mindset of individuals, and that takes much longer to
New Delhi and Moscow have a long-standing relationship that spans sectors such as defense and security
India is the worlds largest purchaser of Russian weapons, and a surge in oil purchases by Asias second-biggest importer has actually helped
the Kremlin to keep exports as it takes on Western sanctions.
