This below Bloomberg story is funny in the grand tapestry of funnies.
Team India buying expensive winter kits from Team USA, switching away from value-packed Team China winter gear (India did not buy much from EU), even as it stops buying much of everything from China except water (no, they do not have to pay for the water, yet) and banned TikTok, and
Team USA making its winter kits more dear, by re-shoring any and everything meant for the Pentagon, even as more is bought from China w/ a bigger gap than ever, and energy is made dirt cheap by act of Team USA energy independence for awhile through installation of Team China solar this and electric that, and IPO-ing still more Team China companies so that they can be forced home w/ full tank of cash.
In this microcosm of economics, the sustainability of the above equation is somewhat doubtful, but am willing to study how it might.
In a pinch Team India might run short of water, which, like rare earths, is plentiful a/k/a not rare.
Would observe global idiocy knows no bounds, with Teams ganging up on their best customer, supplier, financier, and not altogether a cake-walk could-be nemesis, and all for trying to avoid a brighter future. Let us see hope long the electorates remain dumb to having been tee-ed up and well in a war that touches the wallet in big and growing way.
bloomberg.com
India Scrambles to Buy Winter Gear From U.S. Amid Row With China
Sudhi Ranjan Sen
October 16, 2020, 8:56 PM GMT+8
Markets
By
Gear purchase indicate China standoff will be prolonged
India uses agreement between militaries to source equipment
An Indian Army convoy makes its way along a highway in Kyelang, some 75 miles from the India China border on Sept. 2.
Photographer: Money Sharma/AFP via Getty Images
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India has bought high altitude warfare kits from the U.S. on an urgent basis, officials with the knowledge of the matter said, a sign that the South Asian nation is preparing for an extended winter deployment after talks to ease tensions along its border with China stalled.
The Indian Army used an agreement which allows the two militaries to take logistical assistance from each other such as buying fuel and spare parts for warships and aircraft, for the transaction, the officials said, asking not to be identified given rules for speaking to the media. The the Logistics Exchange Memorandum Agreement signed in August 2016 aims to promote interoperability between the two militaries.
The worst standoff between the Asia neighbors in four decades has prompted India and China to move thousands of troops, tanks and missiles to the disputed Himalayan border, while fighter jets are on stand-by. The rush to acquire the gear shows the situation will extend into the winter. The troops face off at 15,000 feet, with temperatures dropping to -30 Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit).
Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi pledged in September to reduce tensions along the 3,488-kilometer (2,167-mile) boundary known as the Line of Actual Control.
India Minister Says China Talks Are 'Work in Progress'
India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar says military and diplomatic talks with China on troop disengagement amid the worst border tensions in four decades are “a work in progress.” He spoke Thursday with Ruth Pollard at the Bloomberg India Economic Summit. (
Military and diplomatic talks on troop disengagement are “a work in progress,” Jaishankar told investors and analysts at the Bloomberg India Economic Summit on Thursday.
India until now sourced high-altitude kits for its defense forces mainly from Europe or China. S K Saini, the second-highest ranking general in the Indian Army, is on a scheduled visit to the U.S. Army Pacific Command to discuss other emergency purchases and building capabilities.
The Indian Army did not comment on the high altitude warfare kits, but confirmed the visit of one of its top generals to the U.S. A spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi didn’t immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
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