‘Stop Lecturing India’ OneIndia Anchor CLASHES With UK Expert Over Indo-Russia Ties On Live

Oneindia

During the live coverage of the historic Trump–Putin meeting in Alaska, a heated debate broke out between Burzine Waghmar SOAS, University of London, and journalist Nagen Singh of OneIndia News. Waghmar argued that Russia’s economy is overheated and claimed Putin cannot sustain the Ukraine war beyond a year. He also questioned India’s obsession with Moscow and the romanticization of Indo-Russian ties. Countering him, Singh accused the West of hypocrisy and blamed the UK and U.S. for India’s deep-rooted closeness with Russia.    #Trump #Putin #AlaskaMeeting #USRussia #Diplomacy #JointBaseElmendorf #Geopolitics #WhiteHouse #Kremlin #PoliticalShowdown #TarmacGreeting #GlobalPolitics #InternationalRelations #WorldNews #HighStakes #RedCarpet #BilateralTalks #BreakingNews #PoliticalDrama #USNews  ~HT.408~

Transcript

00:00It's important that I point out One India to an Indian audience, among others who may be watching

00:05it, because you don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation in India, because you

00:09have this Soviet-Russian romantic, nostalgic view of Moscow. We don't want to see a Europe divided

00:16again into an East-West confrontational theater, which is what Putin wants. And it's not a question

00:21of provoking him or antagonizing him. Nobody is doing that as such. It is he who has been offensive,

00:27going into other people's territories and carving up lands as such.

00:31You are sitting in the UK, right? And we are here in India. Of course, we are, if we had

00:36to fantasize with the relationship, I think a lot would not have happened. What has happened

00:42between India and Russia, of course, India and USA and Prime Minister Modi going to USA

00:49next month. However, a lot has changed since Trump has become the president. And it has

00:56changed not on just monthly basis, but on daily basis.

01:00Russia is losing 1072 casualties a day. It is known in Russian parlance as the meat grinder.

01:06Not that it matters to Putin, because of course, his ego is on the line and his obsession of

01:11being another Peter the Great or Catherine the Great. And these, among other notions of Russian

01:15nationalism that animate his warped thinking. And Russian economists, just as of July 2025, have

01:23informed the Kremlin that they are running a deficit of 45.3 billion pounds. That's 4.88 trillion

01:32rubles. Yes, he's managed to pull off a war for three years, but I don't think he can continue

01:38for a year plus more. Oil sales or not, he simply can't. And what is the Russian economy as we speak?

01:44An overheated economy where deficits are running and inflation is in double digit figures. And the entire

01:52economy has been geared into wartime running with productivity across several sectors, organized sectors

01:59of labor, completely depleted because everyone is into defense, procurement and the rest of it. So, so many sectors

02:05have stagnated as such. You ask, what does Russia, what does Europe and the UK want? As Walter mentioned,

02:16Finland was practically occupied by Stalin and the Russians. So were the Baltic states. All of them

02:21felt the Soviet heel for 40 years. And that is important that I point out in one India to an Indian

02:27audience, among others who may be watching it, because you don't seem to understand the gravity of the

02:33situation in India, because you have this Soviet Russian romantic nostalgic view of Moscow. And

02:40that in more ways than one clouds your thinking about Russia and what others have gone through.

02:45East Europeans have gone through under the Soviet heel and under Russia. We don't want to see a

02:50Europe divided again into an East West confrontational theater, which is what Putin wants. And it's not a

02:56question of provoking him or antagonizing him. Nobody is doing that as such. It is he who has been

03:02offensive, going into other people's territories and carving up lands as such, and to roll back what

03:07he calls Russia's deterioration in stature. And somehow this is supposed to bring back Russia's glory

03:16by the acts of what he's done in Georgia. What about Kazakhstan, Harsh? Baikonur Cosmodrome,

03:23Pankaj, from where Rakesh Sharma lifted off in 1984, which you may remember as an Indian,

03:29is part of Kazakh territory. That is sovereign Kazakh territory. The Russians refused to leave Baikonur

03:35Cosmodrome until very recently, although Kazakhstan is an independent state. And they are also tinkering

03:42there in northern Kazakhstan by antagonizing white Russians, minorities settled there, that these provinces

03:48need to be seceded and joined the Russian Federation. The man has problems with everyone

03:52as such. What, how exactly does this enhance Russia's stature is anybody's guess. So the point is,

04:00you ask what Europe wants. Europe doesn't want to live under a specter of a Soviet shadow once again,

04:04when Russia in the last 20 plus years was somewhat limping to normalcy as a normal society,

04:12some modest gains in becoming a transparent democratic polity with a free press, free judiciary,

04:19free elections. All of that with one stroke in February 2022 has gone off as such. And that is

04:26something which you in the world's largest democracy need to understand, but you don't as a rule,

04:30because partly your image and viewing is clouded by this sense of Soviet procurement of weapons and the

04:35rest of it, and that you feel it's been an all-weather friend for you, which it has not.

04:39Mr. Wagmar, you are sitting in UK, right? And we are here in India. Of course, we are,

04:46if we had to fantasize with the relationship, I think a lot would not have happened, what has

04:52happened between India and Russia, of course, India and USA and Prime Minister Modi going to USA next

05:00month. However, a lot has changed since Trump has become the president, and it has changed not on just

05:08monthly basis, but on daily basis. However, we we won't agree, because we won't agree to the

05:14romanticizing of us with Putin. Putin being in criminal court of justice, he has a warrant against

05:22him to be arrested. And USA and the West talking to him, trying to convince him that please stop the

05:29war. When we asked all the panel that what can you give to Putin or what Putin is going to give in

05:34return? What did you say? It was about mercy, that Putin will show mercy by stopping the killings.

05:40This is what we got. This is what you are asking from Putin. So it is not that we are romanticizing,

05:46but it is the fear of Putin. When he puts Oresniks, then Trump sends his ships. So we know what happens

05:53and how Trump is reacting and how the West is reacting. And it is the elite of the West and the UK

05:59and US. And of course, I have been just to France and I know how are the sentiments. It's not the

06:05locals who want the fight, but it is only the politicians who wants, who want this fight.

06:11It is the elite UK and the entire Europe that wants this fight to continue, who wanted to send their

06:18soldiers. And when Putin said that it is going to get very wrong for the entire UK and for France,

06:25then they took the step back. And here Trump is making the announcements every day. So it is part

06:31of the UK and their fantasy or romanticism with Putin, or maybe I should call it as a fear of Putin,

06:38because he can do anything any day with his Oresniks and one attack. And then the entire situation might

06:44change. And of course, we know Trump has already said that there could be very serious consequences.

06:50This is what Trump said. So who is provoking whom? Ukraine cannot be wiped off the face of the earth,

06:57which is what Putin wants. Of course, but the government can be collapsed. What happened in 2014?

07:01And of course, Trump wants someone of his choice again sits there. But you asked a question about

07:08the elites. It's got nothing to do with the elites. If we talk about the report, we know that the population

07:14of Ukraine has already reduced from 56 million to 28 million people are leaving Ukraine.

07:22You asked me, you said it's got the elitist Western theaters of the defense establishment or the

07:27politics, politicians who want to create this fight or continue to sustain the war. That is not true.

07:32We are talking about, for better or for worse, from 1945, wedded to a liberal rules-based governance where

07:40you don't just walk into people's territory. You don't want China to walk into Arunachal Pradesh now,

07:44do you? Or Aksai Chin, though it's occupying a part of it. So, I mean, I would expect you to understand

07:50that. Well, then we have to, then we have to discuss the entire Palestine and what the United

07:55Nations did in the past. Right. Okay. Fair enough. So, so of course we should not deviate from there,

08:01but I don't think that India, India is not getting enough information and still fantasizing.

08:06What is USSR? Things have moved quite forward and of course we are sitting here getting guests from

08:12all the directions because we want to have different views from all the places.

08:17You still tend to have a slightly romantic view of Moscow.

08:22That is going to stay because like Elon Musk has his romanticism with Mars. Of course, we share history.

08:29They are much closer country to us than USA or the Europe. So, of course that is going to be there.

08:35We share a lot of culture and tradition. Raj Kapoor, Indian movies, they are quite famous there. We

08:41have our soft power. Indians go to study in Russia to become doctors. So, there is a lot that we share.

08:49Many more Indians study in the US to be doctors, by the way.

08:53Of course.

08:53But that started like in the last two, three decades, but Russia people have been going from 70s and you

09:02know, when we were students and I was also unfortunately trying to be a doctor and this was one of the options, the cheaper options.

09:10Air India doesn't fly to Moscow anymore, but it flies 54 times a week to the US.

09:15So, you are proving my point. We are not romanticizing with this country.

09:19And you can send back today to London. So, you should know where your bread is buttered.

09:24Well, bread and butter as far as the UK is concerned, I think UK is and should be more worried about its own

09:32resources now after Brexit. Which we are.

09:35And that you are fighting the Pakistani crowd and we saw the visuals of Manchester and what was

09:41happening, the entire crowd of Pakistan shouting Pakistan Zindabad on the streets of Manchester.

09:46It looked like Islamabad.

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