How India can deal with dissenting voices in US policy circles

This is a concrete result expected from the journey. However, the delegation could make progress on a broader agenda. Former US President George Bush signed the nuclear deal not only with the Manmohan Singh-led government, but also with a heavily armed China, emphasizing India’s important role as a strategic counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific region. There has been clarity in America. Accepting India’s quasi-membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group despite India’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). India is now a member of the so-called quadrilateral grouping aka Quad, which also includes the US, Japan and Australia and aims to ensure peace in the Indo-Pacific region.

Nevertheless, there are dissenting voices in US policy circles on closer cooperation with India. This discontent stems from two sources, but Indian negotiators should be able to air both to the skeptics’ satisfaction.

The first of these concerns doubts about whether India really qualifies as a democratic country, crackdowns on dissent in parts of India and reports of the rise of Hindu majoritarianism that separates adherents of other religions and the existence of a nation. As a threat to the harmony of India.

The second is motivated by India’s refusal to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. While India has not supported the aggression and is committed to a negotiated settlement of hostilities, US policy circles are puzzled over why India should balance one country’s infringement of sovereignty by another. That India has joined China as a major buyer of Russian crude is seen by these critics as a sign of opportunism.

Accused of deviating from democratic norms, New Delhi should reiterate its stated official position in line with the Constitution of India, which is against any persecution of minorities, and stand out on track as a functional democracy among those countries. Uncover the records that emerge from it. colonial rule. Any backsliding is best remedied by more vigorous internal democratic politics rather than outside interference.

For the unusual stand on Ukraine, New Delhi must make it clear to the world that India stands by both national sovereignty and the legitimacy of geopolitical power centres. America’s National Security Strategy 2022 sees China as America’s systemic rival and Russia as little more than a thorn, but India’s view of the world is a bit different.

A bipolar hegemony of the US and China would leave India, which has hostile designs on China, faced with the prospect of erosion of strategic autonomy, with the need to rely on US aid to stand up to China. To avoid such a situation, India wants Russia to remain a major pole of global power. In fact, it would be even better for India if, in addition, French President Macron makes good on his vision of making Europe the center of geopolitical power.

For India to remain a counterweight to China in the region, it must be a powerful, autonomous power and must be perceived as such by other Asian countries. For Russia to remain a global powerhouse, it must have a navy that can be deployed at will. Crimea hosts the Russian Navy’s warm water base at Sevastopol. Crimea has historically been part of Russia but was assigned to Ukraine in 1954 by the Khrushchev government of the USSR. Continued access of Russian men and material to Sevastopol depended on a land route along eastern Ukraine. This explains the Russian dogma on Crimea and Ukraine’s membership in NATO.

War will not solve this dilemma – only dialogue can solve it. And this is what India supports, quite logically. It should be possible for Indian interlocutors and the media to articulate this position with clarity and conviction.

Many see stalled progress on bilateral trade agreements as a major stumbling block for relations between the two countries. The exclusive focus on goods trade obfuscates the fact that a large portion of India’s information technology services exports are to the US, as is a large part of the growing knowledge-process-outsourcing segment. Better access to the US market for Indian professionals and the availability of work visas are important for such access, but preferential trade deals – extended to poor countries from whose ranks India has graduated – are not.

In creating a world order that allows the emerging world to articulate its aspirations, there is much room for India and the US to work together. The Indian prime minister can no longer merely espouse national interests in his visits to world capitals.

Updated: June 08, 2023, 04:03 PM IST