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Source: "Soviet Revisionism's Neo-Colonialism in India," Beijing Review 15, no. 3, 21 January 1972, 18.
Transcribed by an HC, April 14, 2005
January 21, 1972
[Transcriber's introduction (April 14, 2005): The below is more book knowledge from Beijing Review . It disproves the nihilist idea that Maoists before MIM never took any of MIM's approaches to calculating complicated and hidden transfers of super- and surplus profit from oppressed to oppressor nations (transfers obscured in bourgeois investment and trade figures).]
Through continual economic infiltration, expansion and control, the Soviet Government is working feverishly to make India a Soviet dependency.
By using so-called economic "aid," Soviet revisionism has taken control of India's economic life-line in recent years. Actually this "aid" is "export of capital" and ruthless exploitation of India's cheap labour power. What is most shameless is that to cover up this fact, Soviet revisionism has even notified one and all that its relations with India are a "shining model" of peaceful co-existence.
"Credit." The Indian weekly Blitz reported last August 21 that since the first economic agreement was signed with India in 1955, Soviet revisionism has provided India with "credits" totalling 10,220 million rupees and become its No. 2 creditor. This "credit" mainly "helped" India set up various economic enterprises in the public sector. The weekly admitted that "India's public sector is largely a Soviet creation," accounting for 25 per cent of the Indian economy.
Indian Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram confirmed that Soviet control of India's economy is 30 per cent of the steel production, 35 per cent of the oil refining, 20 per cent of the electric power, 60 per cent of the electrical equipment and 85 per cent of the heavy machines. In addition, Soviet revisionism controls 75 per cent of the production of the electric motors, 80 per cent of the oil extraction and exploration industry's production and 25 per cent of the aluminium output. Projects built with Soviet "aid" are strictly Soviet controlled from designing, investment, installation of equipment and raw material supply to actual management. Barking out orders, the "experts" sent by the Soviet Government act like overlords. An Indian parliamentary committee criticized their "overbearing attitudes in much the same way as the government has found fault with Americans in the past."
"Industrial Co-operation." One Soviet revisionist chieftain boasted that "a new form can be mentioned in the development of Soviet-Indian economic ties, such as industrial co-operation in the production of several engineering products." So-called "industrial co-operation" is in fact a refurbished version of "specialization in production" pushed by Soviet revisionist chieftains in certain East European countries and Mongolia. They used Indian raw material and labour power to produce what they need, further making India their accessory processing factory. The engineering products made by India for the Soviet Union in 1967 amounted in value to 32.62 million rupees but soared to 141.35 million rupees in 1969, an increase of over fourfold. Between 1968 and 1970 the Soviet-"aided" Bhilai Steel Plant turned out 600,000 tons of steel for the Soviet Union. A Soviet-Indian trade agreement stipulated that India will supply 150,000 to 200,000 tons of rolled steel to the Soviet Union every year from 1971 to 1975.
Soviet revisionism has even asked India to set up factories for manufacturing products specially for the Soviet Union. It has been reported that a Soviet-operated project in India cost an enormous sum of money to produce a drug and output was over ten times as much as India's actual needs. The Indian press also revealed not long ago that "Russia buys cotton from Sudan and sends it to India, which then turns it into fabric textiles and sends the same to Russia," thereby exploiting the Indian working people. Five thousand builders of the Bokaro Steel Plant set up with "aid" from the Soviet revisionists went on strike against oppression and exploitation by the Soviet revisionists and the Indian comprador bourgeoisie.
Trade. "Trade" between Soviet revisionism and India has gone up sharply in recent years. In 1953-54, volume of trade between the two sides was 28 million rupees, while in 1969-70 it rose to 3,724 million rupees, a 133-fold increase. Soviet revisionism alleges that its trade with India is based on "equality and mutual benefit." But facts have shown what Soviet revisionism calls "equality and mutual benefit" is nothing but "exchange of unequal values." It sells India large quantities of worn-out machinery and equipment, usually at prices 20-30 per cent higher than those in the international market, sometimes even three times. It imports large quantities of raw material and finished goods from India, usually at prices 20-30 per cent below those in the international market. [Again, however, even the average price of an imperialist-country good in the world market typically represents more than the labor value of the good. Imperialist-country goods are sold for above value generally. --Transcriber]
Over 82 per cent of Soviet exports to India consists of machines and equipment, while over 65 per cent of India's exports to the Soviet Union includes leather products, tea, nuts, jute bags, clothing, cotton fabrics, spices, tobacco, oil cakes, jute, leather, shoes, mica, castor oil and medicine. Through such "trade" Soviet revisionism has stolen large quantities of raw material from India. The Indian press disclosed not long ago that after importing Indian raw material and finished goods, the Soviet Union "utilizes partly and capitalizes or re-exports mostly" so as to make enormous profits. Soviet revisionism recently signed a 1971-1975 trade agreement with India which provides that this trade on unequal terms will go up 15 per cent annually.
Commenting on Soviet revisionism's policy of exploitation and plunder in India, the Indian Express said, "India is the egg safe in the Russian basket." Another Indian paper Statesman said, "India at present was behaving like a satellite of Russia."
What Soviet revisionism is doing in India today shows that it has completely followed in the footsteps of old-line imperialism. The policy it is engaged in is social-imperialist policy.