If retrospective taxation dented India's image, the stubborn refusal to accept arbitration awards tarnished it further. Cairn is seeking enforcement action against Indian sovereign assets from New York to Paris, putting a major future power in the same league as Venezuela, Qatar, Lithuania and Tunisia. It remains to be seen if the passage of the tax amendment bill will lead to a fair settlement of Cairn's claims. A 26% one-day surge in the firm's London-traded shares suggests that investors are optimistic. Vodafone's fortunes in India, though, have dwindled. The tax overhang and the price war unleashed by petrochemicals czar Mukesh Ambani's 2016 telecom entry frustrated the local unit's plans to go public. It merged with metals magnate Kumar Mangalam Birla's wireless service in 2018, but found itself once again on the wrong side of the state.