Russia-Ukraine crisis: Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu shared his insights into the situation and what India must bear in mind.
Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine has become the biggest talking point across the globe, with world leaders condemning Vladimir Putin’s action.Huge protests broke out in Russian cities and across Europe, expressing solidarity with Ukraine.
In India too, the Russia-Ukraine crisis is the most talked-about subject.
Zoho CEO Sridhar Vembu on Friday shared his insights into the situation and what India must bear in mind.
“Geopolitics is about Great Power rivalry. Today's Great Powers are US, China and Russia, in that order,” he said in a series of tweets. The entrepreneur said the great powers “don’t like anyone else in their ‘backyards’”.
“When two Great Powers tacitly agree on a course, as Russia and China do now, they cannot be stopped by any other power and this fact has serious implications for Taiwan,” Vembu said.
* India lives in the neighborhood of a Great Power (China). US cannot contain China.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 24, 2022
“India lives in the neighborhood of a Great Power (China). US cannot contain China.”
Hence, the Zoho boss said, “India must become much stronger technologically, economically and militarily or else we will be dictated to by other Great Powers.”
India must become much stronger technologically, economically and militarily or else we will be dictated to by other Great Powers.
Our history teaches us this hard lesson and present events reinforce that lesson.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 24, 2022
India has historically had close ties with Russia, and Moscow is a major supplier of arms to the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke with Vladimir Putin, and called for an immediate cessation of violence while also stressing that India attaches the highest priority to the safe exit and return of its citizens from Ukraine. He asserted that differences between Russia and NATO can only be resolved through "honest and sincere" dialogue.
The Russian readout of the PM Modi-Putin talk said that during the conversation, Putin outlined the fundamental assessments of "Kiev's aggressive actions" against the civilian population of Donbass, as well as the many years of "destructive policy" aimed at breaking the Minsk agreements.
On Thursday, industrialist Anand Mahindra recollected how despite the experience from several wars, the "world does not seem to have learned ant lessons."