Venezuela is in deep crisis. People are starving in the Latin American country, where the inflation rate has touched an all-time high of 800%. Nearly five million Venezuelans have taken shelter at refugee camps in neighbouring Colombia. The US has already hinted that it will impose economic sanction on Venezuela, as Washington believes that President Nicolás Maduro forcefully captured the power.
In such a scenario, India has invited Hugo Chávez’s successor to attend an international event later in March. President Maduro has accepted the invitation and confirmed his participation in the inaugural International Solar Alliance Summit to be held in New Delhi on March 10-11. Many leaders and senior officials from the US, Europe and South America will attend the conference. According to sources close to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, participants will hold political meetings on the sidelines of the two-day conference, apart from discussing solar power and other related issues. International officials will urge President Maduro to restore ‘democracy’ and to take necessary steps in order to overcome the ongoing economic crisis.

Nicolás Maduro

Venezuelans don’t feel safe under Maduro’s rule, as nearly 82% of the people have found their places below the poverty line. When Chávez died, Venezuela was selling oil for USD 110 per barrel. And now, it comes down to USD 50. Experts are of the opinion that the Venezuelan government has sacrificed a huge amount of revenue in order to gain cheap popularity. They have also accused the president of misusing state institutions to stay in power.
According to diplomatic sources, India has decided to play the mediator’s role between President Maduro and the West to serve its own interest. New Delhi was supposed to invite the Venezuelan president to visit India at the end of 2017. However, the Narendra Modi government took time and discussed the issue with Washington before sending the invitation to Caracas.

It is to be noted that Venezuela is India’s third largest source of crude oil after Saudi Arabia and Iraq. India is also one of the largest buyers of Venezuelan crude oil, as 11.4% of the South Asian country’s total mineral oil comes from the Latin American nation.
India recently strengthened trade ties with Venezuela, with state-run companies – like Oil and Natural Gas Corporation-Videsh Limited (ONGC-Videsh), Indian Oil Corporation and Oil India – investing a huge amount of money in Venezuela’s Carabobo and San Cristóbal oil fields. They also plan to start joint ventures in some areas.
If President Maduro manages to restore peace and stability in his country, then it will be a big boost for the Indian energy sector. But, India is not very optimistic because of the president’s track record. India’s only aim is to bring back stability in Venezuela by putting President Maduro under pressure.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das