Dodging scandals

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been able to survive scandals that have devastated previous governments. [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is often described as “Teflon.” That’s a stereotype of course, but like most easy descriptors it holds more than a kernel of truth. Scandals that would have devastated earlier governments seem to bounce off him, as the past few weeks have shown once again. Key reading: - [Growing India Clout Prompts US, Europe to Ignore Modi Crackdown]( - [Tax Probe at BBC India Offices Continues in Wake of Modi Film]( - [Goldman Growth Fund Boosts Bets on India as China Interest Cools]( - [To Fend Off Attack Over Adani Links, Modi Recounts Past Scams]( - [Amnesty Shuts India Office Blaming Government ‘Witch-Hunt’]( This week income tax officials started an inquiry into the BBC’s India offices, weeks after the British broadcaster aired a two-part documentary re-examining Modi’s role in deadly 2002 riots in his home state of Gujarat. Hours later Modi held phone calls with US President Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron touting record orders of 470 planes from Air India.  The juxtaposition illustrates Modi’s dual successes — leveraging India’s geopolitical position and economic promise to build good relations with the US and its allies, and his massive domestic appeal that has allowed him to crack down with arrests and official harassment of some local media and rights groups at home. The pressure on the BBC represents an escalation of Modi’s efforts to snuff out criticism. Abroad, he’s bucking sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine to be taking in more Russian crude oil than from any other source. Yet he’s seen few consequences from foreign investors or governments that regularly criticize China over human rights. Corruption charges against his predecessors helped Modi sweep to power in 2014. Now even the whiff of crony capitalism seems to make no dent to his rule. The Indian leader is said to be close to billionaire Gautam Adani, whose business empire has been rocked in recent weeks after a US short seller leveled charges of fraud and market manipulation, which Adani has denied. India’s opposition has struggled to highlight links between the two men to try and make up ground in the polls. Modi himself continues to float above the fray, maintaining a careful silence. — [Muneeza Naqvi]( Cutouts of Modi and Adani are burnt during a rally in Kolkata on Feb. 6. Photographer: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images Coming Soon: Understand power in Washington through the lens of business, government and the economy. Find out how the worlds of money and politics intersect in the US capital. [Sign up now for the new Bloomberg Washington newsletter](, delivered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And if you are enjoying this newsletter, sign up [here](. Global Headlines Mass consumption | On an average month in Ukraine, the opposing armies lob almost 1 million shells at each other — not including the bullets, land mines, hand grenades and other [munitions]( deployed. As Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion enters its second year, [Natalia Drozdiak]( reports the two sides are using more shells than they can buy or produce. - US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Moscow is likely to continue suffering [mounting]( casualties as it recruits more ill-equipped and poorly-trained soldiers into the fight. - Russia continues to [access foreign chips]( and technology through intermediaries such as Iran, a senior US official responsible for regulating exports said. Economic toll | Much of Ukraine has been reduced to rubble by the war, with millions of citizens huddled in the cold and dark, while life in Russia remains fairly comfortable if you’re not a soldier on the front lines. Yet as [Leonid Bershidsky]( explains, the cost of the war to both sides will turn out to be [intolerably high](, and there’s no outcome that looks good for anybody. - Russian state-sponsored [hackers]( have inundated Ukrainian targets with a “near-constant digital attack” since the invasion, Google said in a new report. Booming trade flows from the US, the UK and European Union states with Russia’s neighbors may be a sign that [sanctions imposed]( in the wake of Putin’s war on Ukraine are being avoided, according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Hitting Back | China imposed fines and sanctions against two US defense companies in an [escalation of tensions]( between the world’s two biggest economies. Lockheed Martin Corporation and a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies were added to a list of “unreliable entities” due to their participation in arms sales to Taiwan, the Ministry of Commerce said. - China questioned whether the US is genuinely seeking to [repair ties]( damaged by the dispute over a balloon as the two nations’ top diplomats may have a chance to meet at a security conference in Germany. - Beijing’s most senior diplomat, Wang Yi, urged France to step up [cooperation]( on technology issues and trade in the face of “adverse currents.” Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [What Follows Brexit? Go Slow on Breconciliation: Lionel Laurent]( - [50F in February Is Climate Change, Not a Fluke: Mark Gongloff]( - [Sturgeon Was the Tories’ Best Foil. Not Anymore: Therese Raphael]( Legal stand | Former US Vice President Mike Pence says he’s ready to go to the Supreme Court to [challenge]( a grand jury subpoena from the special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. Pence argues he’s protecting the separation of powers under the Constitution. - Trump’s last chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has also been [subpoenaed to testify]( before the grand jury, sources say. Explainers you can use - [How Nigeria’s Crackdown on Gray Economy Led to Chaos]( - [What Happens When a Greenpeace Activist Gets Into Government?]( - [Climate Change Has Spread Malaria Risk to New Parts, Study Shows]( A different crisis | Egypt is in the throes of a familiar crisis — the currency has plunged, foreign exchange is in short supply and living costs have soared. Yet policymakers say this time is different, and that a swathe of promised reforms stand to give a makeover to Egypt’s markets, economy and perhaps society as a whole. [Mirette Magdy]( highlights [five areas to watch](. [Listen]( to our weekly Twitter Space for a conversation about the US-China balloon drama. Also, Bloomberg TV and Radio air Balance of Power with [David Westin]( on weekdays from 12 to 1pm ET, with a second hour on Bloomberg Radio from 1 to 2pm ET. You can watch and listen on Bloomberg channels and online [here](. News to Note - The World Health Organization is calling for more [cooperation]( from China in its search for the origins of Covid-19. - World Bank President David Malpass said he’ll [step down]( by the middle of this year, giving the Biden administration an opening to pick someone to carry out its goal of overhauling the global development lender to focus more on fighting climate change. - Chinese officials are set to visit Taiwan for the first time in three years, in low-level dialogue that may pave the way for the resumption of [normal travel]( to the democratically run island. - South Korean prosecutors sought an arrest [warrant]( for former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung, leader of the opposition Democratic Party, over suspected graft, a move set to send shockwaves through an already bitter partisan political divide. - Australian and Chinese officials will meet in the coming days to discuss a [relaxation]( of trade restrictions after China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao signaled that relations are set to improve further. And finally ... About 5.4 million Ukrainians were counted as internally displaced by the United Nations’s migration agency in January, 58% of them for at least six months. Check out [this photo essay]( on how a diverse group, mostly from Kharkiv in the northeast, are reinventing their lives in Lviv in western Ukraine. A mother with two of her seven children in a dorm.  Photographer: Igor Chekachkov Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Politics newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](