Three Eurasian Nations Combine Against British Assault

17 May 2008
by Mary Burdman

In the wake of the recent meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India, and China in Yakaterinburg May 14, and the follow up meeting of the ministers with the foreign minister of Brazil, Lyndon LaRouche declared that the agreements announced there reflect the emergence of what he had long anticipated would emerge: a Eurasian alliance determined to defeat the attacks on their nations by the British Empire, and its Bush administration appendages.

This strategic alliance is based on the clear understanding by Russia, India, and China, in particular, that they must hang together to defeat the British imperial assault on the very survival of nation states, or go down to defeat separately, LaRouche said. If the United States sticks with the British in this showdown, it will suffer as well.

LaRouche directed a specific message to Americans in light of this development: Your government is taking you to hell. All Asia is uniting against the United States, which is now following the British lead. They know Britain is the enemy, but you must realize that as well. We need a change in policy now, not after the election. Get the idiot in the White House under control, and save our nation now.

- A Strategic Alliance -

In a joint communiqué adopted at their eighth meeting, the Foreign Ministers of Russia-India-China, nations that represent fully one-third of the world's population and a great deal of its industrial-scientific capability, reaffirmed the commonality in their views on the global situation and, for the first time, set out coordinated positions on Kosovo, Iran, Afghanistan and the Asia-Pacific region, as India displayed a greater readiness to go along with its partners in the triangle on these issues.

On Kosovo, India for the first time joined Russia and China in stating categorically in the RIC communiqué that the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo is contrary to the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1244, and calling for settling the issue in accordance with norms of international law, and on the basis of an agreement and through negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina.

On Iran's nuclear program, RIC called for a political and diplomatic settlement of the problem through negotiations. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee went even further in his speech at the meeting, saying India supported Tehran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, provided it fulfilled its international obligations, that all outstanding issues should be resolved through the IAEA, and that confrontation and destabilization in the region had adverse effects on the situation.

But, perhaps most importantly, for the first time in the RIC format, Russia and China welcomed India's aspirations for playing an enhanced role as an observer in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This also indicated New Delhi's revived interest in the regional security body, which unites Russia, China, and four Central Asian states.

Mukherjee praised the troika "for extending its practical cooperation to trade, technology, disaster management, relief, health and medicine, which would be highly beneficial to large chunks of our populations.''

- Acting on the Food Issue -

On May 15, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim joined with the foreign ministers of the RIC nations, in a meeting which focussed heavily on the global food crisis. In statements made to the press afterwards, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the meeting's host, and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi issued statement emphasizing the urgent need for international action on ensuring food security for nation's throughout the world.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the press that the "food crisis can be solved only on a universal basis with consideration for different aspects, be it energy or climate.'' According to ITAR-Tass, Lavrov said that "all effective measures are needed'' for the crisis, and that this solution should be discussed at the upcoming FAO meeting in Rome. On the importance of the quadrilateral meeting, Lavrov said that these four nations would work to "support global stability and ensure uninterrupted and manageable global development,'' the Hindu reported from Yekaterinburg. "We are the world's fastest growing economies, we have many common interests in the globalized world and share many views on how to build a more democratic, fair and stable world.''

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi called on the international community to make joint efforts to ensure food security--and emphasized a key solution, Xinhua reported. Yang said at the post-meeting press conference that China is now 95% self-sufficient in food production, and its annual food imports are only 2% of world food trade volume. China must feed over 20% of the world's population with less than 10% of its arable land. Yang Jiechi said that the four "BRIC'' nations play vital roles in maintaining world peace and facilitating mutual development. "We think that BRIC cooperation is important.... [and] larger cooperation between the states will be beneficial for international stability.''

Yang Jiechi also attacked oil speculation. "Speculation in world markets has led to soaring world oil prices. The international community should step up energy efficiency and enhance dialogue between oil producers and oil consumers,'' he told the press.

Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the group is a "unique combination of mutually complementary economies,'' and a platform to promote energy and food security, fight terrorism and reform global political and financial bodies. Mukherjee told PTI yesterday that there "are multiple reasons for the current food crisis, primarily due to recent cyclones in Bangladesh and Myanmar, which destroyed the entire rice crops in these countries, also exporters of rice. Now they have to import rice instead of exporting it.''

More generally, Mukherjee asserted that the larger developing nations such as India, China, and Brazil have cushioned the world financial crisis. These nations "have prevented the world from facing a worsening situation . This is a different situation from the past, when there was a global slowdown,'' said Mukherjee. "In this area, it is clear BRIC can increasingly play a key role.''

Although Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim apparently persisted in the national obsession with biofuels, it is notable that the other nations' press coverage ignored the issue, although biofuels were mentioned in the Joint Communiqué. Both India and China have repeatedly made it clear, that they will not endanger their national food security for the sake of producing biofuels.

The Communiqué says that the Brazilian side has proposed "to organize a meeting of economy and/or finance ministers of the BRIC countries to discuss global economic and financial issues.'' The Ministers called for a "just global economic system,'' and emphasized "energy security, socio-economic development and environmental protection,'' and called for ways to "increase access to energy,'' using "renewable sources ... including biofuels.'' Nuclear energy was not mentioned, although three of the nations, Russia, China, and India, all have policies for nuclear development.

The four nations will meet again at the UN General Assembly in September in New York, and hold their next "stand alone'' meetings of the Russia-China-India strategic triangle and the BRIC with Brazil, will be hosted by India next year, and will be simultaneous -- this year, the Eurasian triangle met first. The Hindu asked whether the two formations might merge, and expand to include other nations such as South Africa and Mexico, and Lavrov, while not making forecasts, said that "Our BRIC meeting [May 16] and RIC meeting [May 15] allow me to assert with confidence that the groups' evolution in the natural course of things will be reflected in the forms of their organization.'' There will also be university conferences on the four nations cooperation held in St. Petersburg, Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, and Qingdao.