“Russia urges India to prevent global financial isolation”

Russia is putting pressure on governments, including India. There are moves to demolish Russia to the bottom of the financial world in protest of its invasion of Ukraine, threatening to hurt defense and energy deals if it doesn’t help stop it.

Documents seen by Bloomberg and a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member country official familiar with the matter said that Russia had made a commercial move ahead of a meeting of the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in June. We have a rare clue as to how we are reaching out to our partner countries.

The FATF, which examines countries and regions’ anti-money laundering measures, suspended Russia’s membership in February this year. Ukraine is demanding even tighter regulations, calling for Russia to be designated as a “blacklist” or “greylist” country.

The only countries on the FATF blacklist are North Korea, Iran and Myanmar. If Russia joins in, the country’s economy will become even more isolated.

Much of the so-called “global South,” including India, has so far remained largely neutral on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. While there are no immediate signs that India’s position will change anytime soon, Putin has not taken it easy to see Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky side by side at last weekend’s Hiroshima G7 summit. Probability is high.