by John Helmer, Moscow 
  @bears_with

In this unique discussion held yesterday, two senior Indian strategists spell out how they see the current European and US debate over how the Ukraine war may end.  

Indian Army Brigadier (retired) Arun Saghal is one of the leading intelligence analysts in India. With a PhD from Allahabad University, he was the founding Director of the Office of Net Assessment, a unit of the Indian Integrated Defence Staff for preparing long-term strategic analyses and forecasts. He has also served as a consultant to the National Security Council, the principal advisor to the Prime Ministry on military and security policy. Dr Saghal has also played leading roles in the Indian Centre for Strategic Studies and Simulation (Cs3) and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses.

Chaired by the Lieutenant General P.R. Shankar, retired from heading the Indian Army’s artillery forces, click to view and listen to the hour-long discussion. 

For details and a full reading of the major points discussed:

– And here’s the latest report by Euroclear, the Belgium-based banking and financial  clearinghouse, to  explain that its  billion-dollar profits from the US and European Union confiscation of the Russian Central Bank’s $300 billion reserves jumped last year by  57% from €4.4 billion to €6.9 billion.


CLICK TO ENLARGE VIEW:  https://www.euroclear.com/
Note that what Euroclear’s accountants call the “windfall contribution” of €4 billion is in fact a provision for loss when or if litigation in the Russian and international courts rules that the confiscation of the Central Bank’s reserves was unlawful. In this piechart, Euroclear reveals that at the time the Central Bank reserves were seized in February 2022, this was the distribution of foreign currencies, with the Euro, pound and Canadian dollar exceeding the US dollar holding.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/

Read more in Gen Shankar’s website, Gunners Shot.  

by Editor - Tuesday, March 4th, 2025