Ross Douthat

You know, there's been a deal of some kind with Donald Trump with the United States.

But in terms of Indian companies and Indian products, what you know, if you're in Europe or if you're in the United States, like you have probably more of a sense of.

Chinese, East Asian companies as exporters, as people you buy from.

What are the companies in India?

What are the industries where you would imagine a more open India ends up having more of an imprint on the West?

So it seems like India has a substantial distance to go to get to anything like the point where China is in terms of being an industrial powerhouse, shipping things to the rest of the world.

But maybe India's strength lies then as sort of a center of power for groups that don't want to be dominated either by China or the United States.

Tell me about India's relationship with Russia.

So how does that translate into the Putin era?

And how long can you do that?

I mean, I'm interested particularly.

So on the one hand, obviously, there's the challenge of managing a relationship with the United States when the U.S.

is supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia and when Russia is.

seems aligned with China against the U.S.

But then even if that shakes up a bit, as it has under Trump, right, so then India decides to sort of move into closer alignment with Europe.

But Europe is, you know, Europe is at war with Putin, right?

Basically, I'm asking, is there a way for India to sort of have a kind of sustainable, you know, non-American, non-Chinese bloc, or is it always just going to be...

Lean towards Russia one moment, lean towards the EU the next.

Multi-aligned, right.

And this has been mostly about energy, right?