Soros Or No Soros, Economic Warfare Against India Is Evident

An underrated opinion, perhaps, but most short-term political battles waged against the government of the day are aimed at causing long-term economic damage.

Given there is a strong overlap between the invested groups, from corporate lobbies to political opposition, it is almost impossible to pinpoint an individual or group.

However, the origin and intent are quite clear; to derail India’s growth story.

Put simply, there are plenty of incentives for several corporations and countries to keep India economically submissive and politically divided. 

George Soros’ comments against Adani enterprises and the Narendra Modi government have validated all those who argued the existence of this economic warfare with foreign interests at play.

There was something uncanny about the way the Adani crisis was played out by the opposition as well.

To begin with, no one questioned the intent of the Hindenburg report, published by self-proclaimed short-sellers. Instead, the report was accepted, blindly, as the gospel truth and deployed to demean a home-grown enterprise. 

The hysteria ushered by the opposition was questionable in many ways. Now, stock price falls and crashes are not uncommon. Over the last year, many big tech companies have lost significant market value.

In that one week, the opposition was out there, trying to convince the gullible voter that India’s financial system was going to crash because of one report. One wonders why?

The same treatment was meted out to the Ambani group during the farmer protests. Somehow, the corporation was presented as the antagonist for India’s agricultural sector.

Interestingly, the attack against Ambani came when the group was working on an indigenous 5G infrastructure, and the government was finalising on keeping Huawei out of India.

Maybe that explains why Jio’s telecom infrastructure was attacked in Punjab. Even when the contract farming law benefited the farmers more than the private players, why was one corporation targeted?

The biggest evidence of the prevailing economic warfare was in the farmer protests itself. A first-of-its-kind merchandised protest that had gear (caps, hats, shirts, stickers, etc) and enough resources to set up a mini-city on the outskirts of the national capital with all the amenities.

A sector that makes up for 16 per cent of our GDP and 40-odd per cent of our employment was derailed by farmers of one state, aided by money from Canada. The laws were taken back, but who was the biggest loser in the larger scheme of things? 

Another example of this economic warfare lies in the Sterlite Copper plant. India’s share in the global copper market is quite miniscule compared to the bigger players.

However, the Sterlite plant alone was catering to 50 per cent of the needs domestically. Going forward, it would have eliminated the country’s dependency on copper imports altogether. The closure increased India’s import bill, hit employment in the region, and all this in the name of environmental safeguards where the church was a player too (more about it here).

Beyond protests, India’s economic leaps have been subjected to violence too, most recently in the Wiston iPhone plant in Karnataka.

While the violence was attributed to the non-payment of dues and other labour issues, several aspects remain unexplained.

One, there was evidence of several outsiders being a part of the violence; why?

Two, labour-related issues are not uncommon in India, so why would workers go on a rampage for a four-days delay in payments, and three, who benefited from denting India’s manufacturing image globally?

In the garb of politics, attacks are also being mounted against India’s manufacturing ambitions.

Ignoring the supply chain crisis that has plagued the manufacturing hotspots globally, economists with questionable political credentials are attacking the Atmanirbharta pursuit, starting with semiconductors.

What else explains an economist saying that we should not focus on getting companies to manufacture but have universities that train engineers to design chips on their computers?

It was this mentality against manufacturing that got the country in a soup in the past. For instance, from being self-sufficient in active pharmaceutical ingredients in the late 1980s, the country went from being completely dependent on China in the 2000s, and it wasn’t until the pandemic that the reality dawned upon the policymakers.

Thus, one wonders why would the idea of making in India be downplayed for petty political points and at the cost of long-term economic gains? Who wins when India chooses not to manufacture?

Finally, it is imperative that infrastructure is not plagued by delays ushered through political protests, environmental lobbies, unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles, or superficial judgements from the courts.

For instance, Vizhinjam International Seaport has been derailed by church lobbies in the garb of environmentalism. 

Unanswered questions pertaining to the fiscal health of the economy, at a state level, also remain.

At a time when the economists in Punjab are recommending crowdfunding from citizens to lower the state's debt (around Rs 3 lakh crore), why would parties and groups continue to encourage freebies and cash drops?

The same question, pertaining to fiscal health, must be asked of the Congress that was looking to promise an annual transfer of Rs 72,000 to the bottom 20 per cent families in the economic pyramid. A derailed fiscal situation would only add to India's CapEx woes.

Further, instead of learning lessons from Pakistan and Sri Lanka, why are some parties, aided by lobbies, willing to make the same economic mistakes in India?

As a country, it is the obsession with politics that does not allow many to look beyond the electoral battles on the ground. The implications, however, are economic.

It would not be an exaggeration to state that politics, for the foreign players, is merely a charade to distract the government and the population. Behind the curtains, elaborate battles are being planned, waged and even won by these groups.

Be it Adani, Ambani, or a small farmer hoping for more opportunities, economic warfare is being waged against everyone. 

As it was in the past, a great deal of riches are being expended to keep India poor.