How does India achieve a "balance" between the United States and Russia?

India seems to be a darling in international politics. Although the inequality caused by caste system and religious conflicts in India is serious, there are few fierce criticisms from western media and organizations. Russia has been at the forefront for a long time and will not do this news. From this point of view, India seems to be very popular, and it is the only country in the world that cooperates with Russia to develop T50 and buys weapons and equipment from the West.

Then, the author will analyze why India is so popular.

First of all, India's geographical position is very unique. Ships from the Persian Gulf, Europe and Africa will certainly pass through the Bajiao Strait between India and Sri Lanka along the coast of India unless they take a longer route, which leads to the easy development of Indian coastal cities and convenient trade and material transportation with European countries. The benefits of geographical location don't stop there. The naval fleet from India can effectively control the entire Indian Ocean, thus controlling the oil transportation line related to the lifeline of the world. You can also rely on the navy and air force to quickly transport troops and materials to the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia and even Australia. The US military has Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, which is an important transit point and starting point to the Middle East, Southeast Asia and even Africa. This has led to the United States having to cooperate with India to obtain military clearance, and other NATO countries are similar. If the two sides have military cooperation, other aspects will naturally not be bad.

Secondly, the Indian population is second only to China. Although due to the caste system, many civilians at the bottom can only stay at the bottom of society for a long time, resulting in low motivation, but its top level is still quite good. Not only have I been to many western countries, but English is the official language, which leads to fewer communication obstacles with western society. High flyers from Indian Institute of Technology (of course, basically very smart and rich people) has eclipsed Harvard. A large population also means a vast market and cheap labor. Although low income and social status make the consumption power and labor efficiency of most Indian civilians worse than that of China, the advantage lies in the large population, which makes up for this shortcoming, and its consumption and labor market is second only to that of China. This makes a large number of European and American enterprises willing to invest and set up factories in India, and such economic ties have narrowed the distance between India and the West.

More importantly, India's heavy industry has been severely damaged, resulting in its high-end mechanical and military capabilities strongly dependent on foreign countries. Interested friends can look at the history of India's weapons development since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and you will find that its military equipment has become increasingly difficult to develop. Obviously, it is possible to design decent drawings, and the construction method is very reasonable. However, due to the lack of industrial level, it is impossible to produce qualified materials and accessories. As a result, even if the so-called "independent research and development equipment" is developed, now he can't even make bullets for automatic rifles bought from the United States and Israel, and he has to buy standard bullets from NATO countries. How painful it is. As for the danger that weapons cannot be produced and studied, just look at Argentina in the Falklands War. If France doesn't sell his harpoon, he can't take a few boats. And the scientific research ability is insufficient, even the mountain village can't do it. Don't you see that the Indian army has many high-tech weapons, but you can't build them anyway?

Therefore, to sum up, although India is generous in geographical conditions and economic ties, the reason why western countries have assured him of superior public opinion and military development environment is probably because its mud and sand can't help the wall. I remember that the geography textbook in high school truthfully said that India's roads and infrastructure conditions were very poor. In addition, it rains or dries most of the year, and the road maintenance and working conditions are better than those in Africa and South China, which leads to the delay in reunification in history, and the development of domestic industry and commerce after independence will get twice the result with half the effort. Even though several coastal cities can be developed, the inland areas with the majority population are underdeveloped, and India will never become a military and economic giant. At present, most of India's weapons and equipment are purchased from abroad, and the domestic "Glory" and "Arjun" are familiar to everyone. Both the aircraft carrier and the fifth-generation aircraft were cheated by Russia. Equipment purchased from NATO countries is not only expensive, but also has higher maintenance costs. However, India has to maintain its huge and bloated military force to maintain its "powerful" image.

In the international arms market, can a sucker that can easily get money be unpopular with the "mainstream"? Its huge military expenditure, which accounts for 7% of GDP (5% in the United States), has seriously affected the government's ability to develop the economy, leading Modi to carry out various reforms to solve this dilemma, and even change the monetary evaluation and stable GDP algorithm to maintain investors' confidence in India. It can be seen that the situation in India is not optimistic now.