Flashpoint Ukraine

India's economic and geopolitical options are narrow

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s high stakes move on Tuesday in recognising two breakaway republics in eastern Ukraine and sending troops as “peacekeepers” come at an especially inopportune time for India. At its most obvious, the significant upward pressures on oil prices, exacerbated by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ recent unwillingness to raise output, will accentuate inflationary impulses and increase risks for the Reserve Bank of India’s inflation projections. The escalating situation in Eastern Europe has also added a layer of complication to state-owned oil companies’ plans to raise retail prices after the Assembly elections. A sharper than expected