EP 174: India gets sixth batch of Rafale jets; millions of Americans could be evicted & more!

Sree Iyer: Namaskar. Welcome to Daily Global Insights with Sri and Sree, Episode 174. The beginning of a new month and a lot has been happening around the world. To begin with, let us look at US News. Sridharji, namaskar and welcome to a fresh week, sir and refresh month.

Sridhar Chityala: Namaskar, good morning. Welcome to the month of June after a wonderful Memorial Day weekend here and hope Sreej, you had a good break and looking forward to the continuation of the program.

Sree Iyer: Yes, indeed sir. I am recharged and raring to go ahead. Here is the first piece of news Pentagon Chief fires back at Ted Cruz and says that the US military will never be soft in a CNN interview. What is this Freaker’s between Senator Ted Cruz and the defence secretary, sir?

Sridhar Chityala: Ted Cruz has taken a very strong exception to some of the changes or perceived changes that are going on right from training to recruitment, which is focusing around this equality, woke and this type of attempts to change the culture and the re-orchestration within the Army. So, Ted Cruz has stated whether this really going to work Weakened and undermine the composition and constructed morale of the Army and whether Army is well prepared to deal with the issues. So for which, Lloyd Austin in an interview has shot back by saying these are all, you know, conventional things that everybody does, but has nothing to do with the morale and the attitude and the approach of the Army.

Sree Iyer: Biden honours the fallen on Memorial Day and vows to fight for a stronger democracy. Donald Trump is a Tribute to fallen heroes on Memorial Day. Sir, as far as the Republican party is concerned, Donald Trump is their leader now, isn’t it? There is no doubt about this part, isn’t it?

Sridhar Chityala: Well, though there are aspirants, if I have to say, to take charge, but Donald Trump has clearly been the embarking leader, and by and large, he enjoys tremendous support from the vast constituents of the Republican Party. He is also being open about the processing of the nominees for various posts that are falling or various positions that are coming up and is also supporting the nominations. Be it the governor or be it the new House Representatives who are likely to contest the midterm elections. He’s clearly emerged is as the leader de-facto and many of the Republican caucus members to support his views.  There are also indications that he is likely to contest the 2024 elections.

Sree Iyer: The reason I brought this up is that Memorial day is all presidents do this and it’s important to understand that in America, there are still only two leaders that seem to be, you know, rising far and above their other respective party mates.

And let’s move on to the death toll in America’s Cities because of Progressives Racist Ideas. Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Washington DC has witnessed a 35 to 56% increase in Homicides and  Portland is off the charts a stunning 800%, Sir.

Sridhar Chityala: I think one of the things that we talked about which we haven’t done, is determined extensive coverage of what’s happening in some of the urban cities that include New York as well, you know, in and around the rising crime rate that is sweeping across the United States. Now, the data has been published, and what we are hearing, what is obvious is now anecdotal and evidential, which is to say that when they look at the rising cases relative to the way it was last year, you know in this year, the average number of cases has grown from 35 to 56. And if you look at most of the cities that are outlined here, these are also cities that are behind the defund police and basic defund police movements as well reduce the police force moments and the city Stand Out by themselves, which have been the pockets of the violence. Not very good news and hope Mr  Biden looks at the data and tries to, you know, reign in or at least send messages to the mayors of the cities.

Sree Iyer: Sir, first off, we said nine counties are seceding from Oregon and they’re joining Idaho. Now, that means that there is a fair amount of unhappiness with Oregonians about the way things are in their state. Now, we don’t say anything about this in the newspapers or mainstream media. So where do you think this is headed, sir? Do you think Oregon is going to turn purple soon? Or is it going to be still solid blue?

Sridhar Chityala: I think there are two states. One state is as you rightly mentioned the greater Idaho. Idaho is adjacent. So these nine counties are joining what they call a greater Idaho county and what you’re going to see is about Portland, becoming more and more deeper blue. The dissatisfaction arises from several factors which we have touched on in our DGI programs. First and foremost is Discrimination because these are forming communities in terms of the dispensation of the loans and treatment. The second is biases and prejudices using this racial Theory concept. The third is the Taxation and the fourth is the grant of these huge benefits, which is mitigating the labour to come to work. So it is a rural agricultural population and so, therefore, they feel much alienated in a deep blue state. So much of the crime stems from the fact that the government’s try to force communities to come together. They do not alienate the communities by policies. I think, unfortunately, the present Administration, I don’t know how to their naiveté. They seem to be more and more sleeping towards alienation. And that’s what you’re witnessing.

Sree Iyer: It’s very surprising that such a major tectonic shift that nine Counties have decided that they don’t want to be identified as Oregonians anymore should be national news because it means that there is a lot of churn in Rural America. I’ll leave it at that. we will come back and revisit this in the days of weeks to come.

Senators, Ted Cruz, and Bill Hagerty of Tennessee flew to Israel, to assess the damage caused by the recent bombing. Now, sir, Senator Ted Cruz is a Republican, how about, Bill Haggerty?

Sridhar Chityala: Yes, both are Republicans. It’s very clear that you can see that the two Republicans flew to Israel and they are, you know, putting their hand of support, which historically the United States has been sympathetic and supportive. Given it’s a small place, which is subjected to see a threat. Everybody believes in Law and Order democracy, including Israel, but there has been this, you know, Iranian influence Hamas and, you know, prior to that Hizbullah from Lebanon side creating a tremendous amount of unrest in that part of the world, which is caused imbalance and impacted the livelihood of and, basic for people to conduct their normal course of life in these neighbourhoods.

I think none of them would prefer chaos, they all prefer to do have an ordinary normal life to go and work and then can enjoy their living. But, this instability has lasted for a long and these Rockets keep coming. So this time Israel suffered a lot of damage and notwithstanding the fact is you know, there has been token support from the United States especially the present Administration. There is a strong belief that both from the Democratic party as well as the Republican party that enough has not been done to Anchor behind Israel. So these two people took the first hand, visit and assess the damage that has been caused by these flying rockets in Israel. There is no doubt, there is damage on the Palestinian and the Gaza side, but, you know, Israelis did not drop stuff in those places they were responding to defending themselves.

Sree Iyer: The next news item, Buttigieg says that infrastructure talks cannot go on forever, calls for clear direction by next week.  The Mayor of the small town catapulted himself into a presidential candidate in the Democratic race and now he’s a secretary. What is it that this person brings to the table?  Is he also one of the progressives?

Sridhar Chityala: Well, he comes from the industry, he comes with the background of a little bit of a financial Commerce pedigree. He has become the unofficial or official spokesperson because this is supposed to be our very good friend Dr Janet Yellen. In the absence of Janet Yellen who is on the side making statements, somebody has to speak, so, therefore you have this unusual situation in the Biden Administration. We don’t know who is actually running and we have talked about this. So, Buttigieg has immersed himself as the spokesperson for negotiating, the infrastructure and budget office spokesperson for that on the administration side.

And then, Biden makes occasional statements, today, I’ll negotiate with Republicans. I’m meeting with them for bipartisan. I’m not going to speak with the Republicans because it is, then he tells the Democrats, I’ll go with my own plan because Republicans are not toeing the line. Buttigieg, now has basically, you know, as acting as what you call mediator or saying, we have to stop and you have to go on. Having said that there is already, 8 trillion dollars plan at play, of which this four trillion is a component is another four trillion that is going to be added that includes climate and further, normalization of the benefits. 8  trillion is the cash, when you amortizing, you know, what it translates to we will calculate and present it, when we do the 2022 budget, as we did for 2021.

Sree Iyer: And millions of Americans could face eviction as Housing Protection ends in June. Just to set this thing in perspective, viewers, when covid hit in 2020 March, and there was a full to partial lockdown across the country in the United States. There was a moratorium on people who could not pay rents, whether it was rental space or homes, they could not be evicted. And this was, you know, this was getting renewed once every six months or so. Now,  looks like at the end of June, this Biden government, may not be renewing, it is what I’m reading, sir, correct me if I’m wrong.

Sridhar Chityala: I think, You’re absolutely spot-on. I mean, on this topic that says, you know, June 8, the renter and mortgage protection program comes to a close. Prior to that, you know, when you cannot be evicted for non-payment of rent to some extent because, if you apply for it, the government will back end and support a, not fully but partially the rental which is what the owners have to take. And then they have to basically absorb the balance loss, which was contested in courts and in some courts, ruled in favour of the owners and vast majority of them which are liberal states supported the program. So on June 28, the program ends, so, many people face eviction those who didn’t pay mortgages, interest, principles etc for would now, the clock begins to tick after we cross the end of June. So that is the normal cloture program. Just one more thing on the Buttigieg side, there’s to the gap between that Republicans are willing to go up to one trillion dollars and from 548 to 700 to 1 trillion, they prepare to go, still, the gap is 1.25 trillion. Biden was prepared in 500 and come to 1.75. So, there’s a huge gap between 1 and 1.75. I don’t see that converging, and maybe we’ll see some decision this week.

Sree Iyer: In Indian News, Modi completes 7 years and celebrates talking about his 15 programs; Says Spirit of “Seva” has been a guiding light for his government. Unfortunately, he is going through a bit of a turbulent phase because of the vaccinations, but otherwise, if you look at this long-term achievement, he has done much more than many of his predecessors, isn’t it, Sir?

Sridhar Chityala: it is. I think that this was fairly sombre and sober,  as you rightly pointed out India is going to be a huge pandemic, wave two.  Wave one hit United States, wave two has engulfed India, and fortunately, I think we are seeing the receding side of the wave but it has left a lot of damages and wave three has started.  India has passed the baton to Asia. But to your point, which is namely it is fairly sombre in terms of You know, usually, he speaks about what he has accomplished and you know what they’re planning to do in the next remaining, part of term etc. Etc. But this Covid has been a dampener in terms of being far more assertive rather than the current state of being subdued.

Sree Iyer: India gets the sixth batch of Rafale Fighter Jets, making the total 24 out of 36 ordered. India also deploys advanced Israeli drones to keep a closer watch across the line of actual control of the Chinese troop movement. This time at least it appears that India is able to more closely monitor the happenings across a line, isn’t it, Sir?

Sridhar Chityala: It is, it is, see, I think this is where it’s difficult to do checks, and balances, very difficult to satisfy. India has not one threat but multiple threats. India has been going through a Pandemic. India has got communist problems. India has got these ethnic diversity issues. India has got constant and persistent incursion attempts from both the up in the Northern side of the Border, in the western side of the border. For the first time, India is demonstrating, which I’m not sure how many people can really appreciate or probably, they don’t, they don’t, I don’t know.

The story is that India is extremely equipped to take on a gigantic Army called the Chinese army. China said it into disengagement, but it did not do disengagement. And I got this confirm, which is to say, India is not considered, many positions or advantageous positions are holding to their advantageous positions. Now, you have a France that has stood behind India. So France has advanced some of its orders. Today, India has out of 36, they have got 24, Raphael Fighters, most of which is deployed, facing the LAC. Then, they have the drones from Israel. Plus if you recall, they also have had an arrangement with, the United States, called the bets which give the communication access to the communication data, which helps India to look at the Chinese troop movements in those very rough terrains using Satellite images.  Plus, they have also built their own infrastructure around that whole region and continue to keep their vigilance. So, at least on the security Dimension, what we are seeing is the complete paraphernalia being laid out in the event of the weakness, the weak moments of the pandemic within India. If China, conducts, mother mischief, India has prepared to defend.

Sree Iyer: Indian GDP expands 1.6% in Q4 of 2021. The contraction reduces to 7.3% for the fiscal year 2021 and fiscal year 2022 the forecast is 8 to 10% GDP. Sir, can you please expand on this a little bit. What GDP numbers are we talking about nominal or PPP? And what are the Mysteries here, what are we missing, Sir?

Sridhar Chityala: The mystery here is let me kind of Correct myself here. So people get confused between GDP and Nominal GDP. Nominal GDP includes inflation, whereas GDP is whenever, we use the word, GDP excludes inflation. So let me correct, the nominal GDP here is a contraction is by 3% and the GDP contraction is by 7.3%. So when I look at the next number which is the forecast, the nominal GDP is expected to be 8 to 10% or in fact, they are saying 12%. But, let me modulated by saying, 10%, because of the effects of Corona, spilling into the second quarter and, if you just simply say GDP, GDP is minus the inflation number is what you need to take into account. The GDP at FY 22 will be 3.1 to 3.2  trillion dollars factoring in this 10% or 12%. Right now, FY21 is around 2.7 and 2.8 trillion dollars estimated.

Sree Iyer: The fact that India has such a high amount of Reserve 593 billion you that, in any way, help or hinder India in its March towards five trillion.

Sridhar Chityala: It doesn’t. It is actually that the 600 billion dollars for the purposes of simplicity. It is a contingent Reserve that India can use. Let’s say there is a nine months war six-month war, now, can India meet its import obligations, because much of the domestic needs are also imported. So, can it meet in the event of a war? The objective as you can, obviously sees that the reserves give it the provision to meet. So that’s one number.

Just a second number is that India has added 300 billion dollars since 2014 which’s a significant jump and the second number that I am eluding to is India’s net credit position as a result of the reserves is positive that is India also has debt obligations in foreign currency as well as the private debt. When you take a look at the total debt relative to the reserves, India is in a surplus of 45 billion dollars because it has even to meet the debt. So, this is again, a first occurrence that has happened in long, long, long memory. We have already covered the issue, the market capitalization has grown, which means there’s a lot of money flowing in the market capitalization is around 3 trillion dollars and it is well on its way to meeting the 5 trillion dollars even before the GDP makes it to 5 trillion dollars. GDP is expected to be 5 trillion dollars by 2026 or 2027 if, the present, the trend is continued. This is one of the area’s Modi has been critiqued, which is to say, hey you said 2025, you will reach 5 trillion, it is not going be 2025 but in 2027, not a major issue but politically these things, make a lot of difference.

Lastly, before we go to the next topic, India’s FDI is number one in the world. We have covered. This is about 82 billion dollars for the year 2021. And it’s the highest FDI, that India has seen and so highest that the world has seen in the recent kind of, you know, I know China it 100 billion dollars and for almost 10 years in the eighties. But today India is number one related to China. China is about 62 billion dollars of some number, but that’s also reinforced, that the fundamental platform at least in an economic sense things are moving in the right direction despite the Covid situation.

Sree Iyer: Minister of External Affairs concludes his United States trip after his meetings with Defence Secretary, Secretary of State, National Security Advisor and other officials, what do you expect are the main points of this meeting, sir?

Sridhar Chityala: I think if I have to summarize – three things. One is first and foremost, this is the first meeting in person between the two governments, which has historically enjoyed a great warmth, especially in the last 10 years, or so. So I think, it’s basically an exchange of ideas is what they wanted to accomplish though there have been virtuous summits. I think the second objective of the meeting was to discuss the security situation in and around India, and especially QUAD and the Indian Ocean. The third was, much has been talked about is the vaccine. Much has been done on the vaccine side. I know this is a very divided view and people have different opinions on this specific topic. The US has released the critical component which was needed by Covishield. US has also released some components of the AstraZeneca vaccine when I say components, some vials of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

But what India is doing is preparing itself in three ways. One is, it is working with the Russians and we have covered this with Sputnik. India is also working with Eli Lilly and J&J, besides its own Covaxin program in terms of meeting the needs. Some numbers have been given. But history is history. It is the way forward rather than backwards. Close to 200 – 230 million doses of vaccination have been given in India, second only to the United States at 285 million doses of vaccine. So that just gives you the dimension of the global challenge. Many of the countries don’t even have vaccines, and the world is pleading for vaccines to be given to India. I think that’s the third objective of his visit.

 

Sree Iyer: Saudi committed to meeting India’s requirement for petroleum products says a Saudi Ambassador and has already invested $2.8 billion, that’s all well and good. So let’s go to the next more important item.

Tech platforms fall in line, Google, Facebook, and Twitter to meet the government requirement. So Twitter was the last one to join – Kicking and Screaming. What happened that made Twitter change its mind, sir?

Sridhar Chityala: I think that they had no other choice but to fall in line and they do not want to be the only one left out especially after Facebook and Alphabet/Google. Google was the first one that agreed to comply with the rules. Then, Facebook followed suit. Just to give you the numbers, Facebook, in between its three properties, it’s got 1.12 billion people on a daily basis using Facebook assets, this includes WhatsApp. This includes Facebook. I think this also includes Instagram. 1.12 billion active users. Okay? Twitter is around 17 million daily active users. Twitter is also facing another court challenge, which is around violation of certain rules that would result in prosecution. So Twitter said, ‘okay now we are falling in line’. It doesn’t mean that it’s hunky-dory. We just have to see what happens in the days to come.

Sree Iyer: Twitter has a history of employing CEOs that are quite controversial in their action as well as in the statements, which is not the first time this has happened. There was another person who was very, very left and very pro-Kashmir slanted and amazingly lot of people got tick marks without even having proper followers. Whereas established authors such as myself are still looking for certification. I’m not saying that, by having a tick mark against my name I have achieved something, that I have climbed Mount Everest. But I’m just trying to tell you that even those who are showing facts, don’t seem to have any recognition in Twitter. We have to wait and see. These are all nonsensical in the sense that if they don’t satisfy the needs of their users, they’re going to fade away. Let’s wait and see what happens.

Sir, I’d like to now take a look at Global News. The US and NATO wage war games in Europe. Russia is going to send its troops to the West – unwarranted tension. So why is Russia acting up? I thought the US and Russia agreed to a lot of things!

Sridhar Chityala: Well, first and foremost, the Memorial Day, so coinciding with that NATO forces conducted exercises in the Russian region. There are more than 12 countries participating in its launch. Ground Forces, Naval Force, maybe an Air Force, is it warranted? No. The NATO General went on to make a statement that this is a reaffirmation of the post World War II, and World alliance coming together to fight for the common cause. So the Russians said, Okay, no problem. I’m going to send 20 more battalions to the Western border and I will also conduct. So this is unnecessary ratcheting up of unwarranted tensions in the region.

Now the question that you asked is a statement that is issued from the Russian side which says that don’t expect much of the meat, there are more tensions to come as we approach the day of the meat. So I mentioned this again, the problem is in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. The problem is not in Europe, but as is always the case, Biden Administration or the Obama Administration – 3 gets it wrong.

Sree Iyer: Denmark has helped the US to spy on Merkel, EU officials during the Obama Administration. So now we are beginning to see small snippets of truth emerge about the so-called ideal Obama Administration. Myself was also fooled that this man was doing God’s work and now we are seeing the reality, sir.

Sridhar Chityala: Well, the Denmark intelligence has confirmed or basically has released a statement that it has helped the US to not only spy on Merkel but also other EU officials during the Obama Administration. Why Denmark should have this statement come out especially after Mr Blinken conducted in Nordic visit more recently. He was in Copenhagen and he was in other capitals of the Scandinavian region, don’t know, but it’s not great news.

Sree Iyer: Former Albanian leader threatens to sue Blinken on corruption charges, demands proof and blames George Soros. Where would he be suing Blinken, sir? International Court?

Sridhar Chityala: France. He says that in the French Court, there is no immunity for Blinken. He can be sued. And Mr Blinken applied sanctions and restrictions of his travel to him and his family and so on levelling corruption and ethnic cleansing charges. So the Albanian leader has shot back.

Sree Iyer: Funding Palestinians reopening Jerusalem consulate will embolden Hamas and strain Israel relations, says President Trump. Now, we also have the two senators visiting Israel and Egypt is now going to hold a Summit with Palestinians, Hamas, and Israel to broker sustained truth. We mentioned this in our last hangout, I think sir. So what is the role of Palestinians in this? What did they do? It is one renegade, rebel quote-unquote terrorist group. Why are they being dragged into this summit?

Sridhar Chityala: You mean Hamas.

Sree Iyer: I mean, Palestinians, the general Palestinians. In fact, if there’s anything, Israel closed its borders to Palestinians living in West Bank and Gaza from coming and working into Israel. There used to be a situation where they were much more selective and subjective. They knew who to stop and who to allow. But now there is a much higher restriction.

Sridhar Chityala: The way I look at it is, this one development which is surprising, one in which Egypt has asked to negotiate with Israel, Gaza, and Palestine means. That means that Hamas officially represents Gaza. They say that they represent Palestinians as well. Then you have the Palestinian led by Mr Mahmoud Abbas. So historically, there has been this tussle between the so-called communist wing of the Palestinian groups which is, as you probably know very well led by Yassar Arafat, and the general Palestinian public, and then, of course, you have the extreme wing, which is the Hamas within the Palestinian construct. So the question therefore is, who do you negotiate and there has never been peace and for Mr Blinken to suggest, and go to Egypt and ask Egypt to conduct this negotiation with these three people for a sustained truce. Is this achievable? The answer is, no. Are we going to see more issues? I think that there are lingering issues that are knocking at the door. There’s no way, Israel is going to concede in any manner, doesn’t matter what the government is, whether it’s labour centrist or the right Mr BB government. They are no going to concede the security of Israel to anybody. So, there is this hidden hand of Iran, which pulls the trigger on most of the stuff around that. So I think more troubling times ahead rather than any sustained peace.

Sree Iyer: A look at Southeast Asia which is in the middle of the Covid wave as Singapore pushes wider testing, Vietnam suspends incoming international flights. Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan all are in lockdowns of one form of the other. Sridharji, are these people suffering, double mutant wave? What is the second wave? Why did it happen for these countries, sir?

Sridhar Chityala: I think it’s a triple wave. I don’t want to give a name, but there is another variant that is being talked about in these regions. There has been a spurt in cases. Japan has still not come out. They are still in crisis. For those who saw I speak about vaccines and Japan is still struggling to get access to the vaccines. Remember, until recently, Japan is the world’s second-largest economy. You cannot get vaccines. India is the sixth-largest economy. While India has the second-highest or the highest number of vaccines in the world. That just gives you the context. Development has no correlation to this vaccine model. Korea is not a small economy either, Korea is the sixth-largest trading partner of the United States and it has got a vaccine issue. So you find that in most of these countries, this new variant, whatever the variant. I don’t want to give a name and stroke controversy, this is another variant that has crept in. Vietnamese are concerned that it coming in from people travelling into the country, so they have shut off the airport. Singapore isolated an area because they detected 1,100 – 1,200 people having a very contagious virus and so they’ve shut down as a precaution, they may not open until about June 15th orf June 30th. So that a shutdown is quite complete. Singapore is in a much better position relative to many nations. They have vaccinated close to 30% – 35% of the people. And they are well on the way up. So you have this contagion and however much one plans or doesn’t plan, there is no predictability to this. It takes various forms in various shapes which is why there is such an intent roar in the United States to say, release the data that you have, release where it came from, release information that you have, so the world can deal with it. Well, this is why Dr Fauci has been the focus of target in the United States. WHO probably has access to information but has not revealed what it is.

I think it’s time for the sake of this global issue, not even a World War has impacted the universe the way these viruses have impacted the world. But yet the truth has not come on this.

Sree Iyer: As death toll exceeds a million in Chinese vaccine reliant, Latin America, sir. So this is just numbers going up.

I just wanted to share, with your permission, my experience over the weekend. I was in small towns in the northern Bay area and I was moving about. Most times, there were restaurants open. You could sit inside, there was some amount of seating restrictions, everybody had to wear masks when the waiters were about but otherwise, you have to have your mask down to eat. Anyway, the most important thing here was life appears to have come back to normal. I even went to a National Monument yesterday and again there was a limited number of people. Reservations are available. If you got in, you could go in and do whatever you want. People were going about without masks except when they were facing other people at which point people… You can cite somebody coming in front of you then you would mask up and there is some sort of discipline emerging. Hopefully, this will stand. I’m curious to see how the numbers come up for the United States, post-Memorial Day weekend, let’s wait and see.

Sir, your inputs, what were your impressions on the East Coast?

Sridhar Chityala: My impressions on the east coast is that we are open. People are in restaurants, people are applying caution. Quite a few of us who are fully vaccinated we don’t need to wear masks but many people for precaution do wear masks. The restaurants are slowly beginning to open. There is activity outdoor. So there is a positive buoyancy, at least on East Coast. When you look at the Republican-controlled states such as Florida, they have been in business. They have managed. There are not even masks in Florida, but I think Carolina is partially masked. But Carolina is open, it is another Republican-controlled state. Whereas in the Democratic, Blue States like New Jersey, New York, and so, on, life is slowly getting back to normal. As you pointed out, the numbers have held up, many people are vaccinated. If you speak with people in the tri-states – Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and if we add the quad states, which is Philadelphia or Pennsylvania, the fourth state. So, lots of people have been vaccinated. There is a fair amount of movement. There is general confidence that things are under control. And we will prevail.

Sree Iyer: Australia and New Zealand tout Indo-Pacific ties and reject coercion. What is the total context in this, sir?

Sridhar Chityala: The context in this, is that New Zealand has been saying that in Five Eyes, they’re out of Five Eyes, there in Five Eyes and at the same time, they’ve also been hosting sessions with the Chinese. So the question that has been asked, is hey, is the Trans-Tasman alliance a part of the Indo-Pacific accord or not? So New Zealand has basically said, Australia and New Zealand will work in harmony to accomplish this goal. Australia, under Scott Morrison, has emerged as one of the leaders of the pack as far as the Indo-Pacific Quad matters go, on all facets from trade to security. So it’s good. It augurs well if fellow kiwis join the Kangaroos.

Sree Iyer: In markets, the economy is set to rule at the fastest pace in decades after the unprecedented stimulus. Biden is unveiling a 6 trillion infrastructure plan. Sir, your thoughts before we wrap up today’s program?

Sridhar Chityala: Well, I think this infrastructure plan is going to come in. It’s going to be like infrastructure plus the climate plan is coming that’s $8 trillion. We will cover that separately. As I said before, Markets roar while pandemic, ravages. Dow up 13% for the year. SNP is at 12% for the year and NASDAQ is up 7% for the year. As we look at the markets opening in the next 40 minutes, the Dow is already up to 100 points. So a lot of liquidity in the system, nobody is complaining that they have no liquidity. A lot of people are complaining that there are no people to come to work and for which there is a plan by Mr Mayorkas and Madam Escobar and we’ll discuss that tomorrow.

Sree Iyer: Yes, indeed. Viewers, we are going to have Ask Abhijit in about two hours time. Do not forget to tune in, where you can send in your questions and ask him about anything under the sun. Thank you, Sridharji. We’ll be back again tomorrow. Same time, same place, same channels. Namaskar.

Sridhar Chityala: Namaskar. Thank you. Have a wonderful day. Welcome back after the Memorial Day Weekend, all fellow Americans.