Oh! those Russians.

Oil is threatening to go below the US$ 60 per barrel mark and there is a smile on the Saudi kingdom - why? Don't know. But then; instead of beaming a smile, why are the stock markets around the work sulking? Not sure. But;  could it be that the world is bracing itself for an economic catastrophe based on indications of negative or low growth? Each day, I hear a new story which contradicts the other on reasons explaining this global anomaly. I for one am quite unhappy. Not only has the falling Sensex shaved off some of my paper wealth but the falling rupee (now at 62+ to the USD) has made my holiday overseas a trifle more expensive. 

But if there is one person expressing a greater disgust than me on world events; then, it has to be President Putin of Russia. With economic sanctions preventing his Country from selling oil and gas to the west over the Ukraine crisis, the Russian Rouble seems to be playing “Russian Roulette” with itself shooting itself down to new lows with each passing day. 

The West may not like them now; but Russians have been and are always welcome to India; even before the Russian ladies became desirable eye candy, and even though the strong brotherly equation that we once enjoyed with the former USSR block is all but gone. So; "Dobro pozhalovat' v Indiyu Prezidenta Putina" (welcome to India President Putin). India still believes that there is a lot that we can do together specially in the areas of technology, military and energy security as well as making many Indian women happy by getting direct access to a large source of good quality big sized diamonds at much cheaper rates than through the western run cartels.

Since it is clear that India is pretty much the big buyer; which suits Russia under the current economic situation; India will have to fork out a lot of its forex reserves to pay for its imports from Russia. Well; Russian goods are not necessarily the best in the world – and to pay top dollar with a weakening Rupee may not be such an attractive line to pursue. Then; what if we revive the Rupee-Rouble trade? The scope of trade is virtually unlimited. However, this system has been thoroughly abused by both sides based on the dollar arbitrage that could be extracted. The solution of course is to create a benchmarked trading currency that involves all the BRICS Countries as the trading problem faced by them all is the same. India would love to trade with China as well in a non dollar currency. The foundation of the BRICS bank itself is based on solving this situation so why wait? If the world can accept a Bitcoin then a BricsCoin too can become real.

While deals have been supposedly struck for purchase of crude; nuclear technology; joint weapons development; trading in diamonds and agri-goods; India will have to extract firm commitments from Russia to invest in Infrastructure over here for the whole package to be equitable on both sides. Our Prime Minister has been compared to Mr. Putin in many ways and he in turn has expressed his love for Russians in more than one way through his numerous tweets. The relationship suits both nations.  Will it then create a new tectonic shift in the Indo-US relations? On the surface - unlikely; but then Russia never expected such a hard western stand either. In my view this may just be the relief valve required to bring some calm in an anxious world where no one looses face.

With the Rupee heading towards 70 to a dollar and the Rouble racing up to nearly the same, my next summer holiday maybe spent exploring the beauties of Russia - only if the Russians can accept our humble Rupee as sweetly as the US Dollar. Oh! those Russians.