The ballad of East and West

THE West likes to tell the world that the war in Ukraine is a battle between democracy and autocracy. It can’t be more deceiving. The West has the habit of dressing its interests in the language of values. But the East is not so easily fooled. It is seeing right through it. This is why a democracy like India, though a troubled one at times, is not with the West on Ukraine. If the West is truly on the side of democracy, it would not force India or other nations to impose sanctions on or condemn Russia. While we agree that the invasion of Ukraine is wrong — all invasions are wrong — we think isolating Russia as the West is doing now, not only harms all Russians but also the rest of the world…