Dafter prime minister Narendra Modi spotted and tell me Publicly chasing Russian President Vladimir Putin To choose a war for peace in Ukraine on the margins of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Samarkand last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is traveling to the US where he is scheduled to meet his US counterpart Antony Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. He will also participate in Quad, BRICS and United Nations meetings.
The visit comes at a crucial time in India-US relations, which have recently been characterized by more concern than comfortably – which is strange, given that the world’s oldest and largest democracies have publicly held the least Less has demonstrated both affection and trust in each other. India-US nuclear deal of 2008.
a cold relationship
But some things seem to have fallen apart recently under the watchful eye of US President Joe Biden. It doesn’t look like any big idea is eating up both countries. A free trade agreement, at least for the past five years, seems to have been put on hold for now. The lack of a US ambassador at the Roosevelt House in Delhi since the previous incumbent Kenneth Juster moved in a few years ago certainly hasn’t helped matters.
Instead, a growing suspicion reigns. There is a growing view of the Modi government that the Biden administration is being distracted from its main task, which is to expand and deepen America’s ties with India. religious freedom And human rights By Do-Gooders in Washington DC.
Still, the Biden administration will not criticize India formally, but instead blames its evangelical officials for censuring New Delhi for curtailing freedoms, fundamental rights and labor laws, and changing India’s unique fate as a democracy. will leave.
The difference between the Barack Obama and Joe Biden administrations is that Obama at least acknowledged that the fundamentally vibrant nature of India’s democracy cannot be put down. Biden, on the other hand, seems unable to discern the difference.
Furthermore, Biden officials have become consumed with India’s reliance on Russian energy in recent months and the increasingly growing view that New Delhi should choose between backing US sanctions on Russia. Equally obstinate, Indian officials point out that cheap, discounted Russian oil since the war with Ukraine six months ago has produced a significant savings for the Indian exchequer, as much as 35,000 crores.
It is this discrepancy in worldview that is hurting this relationship at the present time. And that is why Jaishankar has gone to America, in the hope that his honest talks with Blinken, Austin and some Congressmen and women will heal the divide.
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bridge the divide
There are many subjects on which Jaishankar can spin. First, Russia. The fact that PM Modi spoke candidly with Putin and told him that it was unfortunate that he was choosing war over peace with Ukraine, or the fact that his comments in Hindi were being circulated all over social media. This is a sign that India is not entirely on Putin’s side of the fence.
This is definitely a message for America. One should not believe that just because India is buying large amounts of subsidized oil from Russia – naturally, to shore up its economy – it supports Putin’s war. It is not and Modi has made it very clear.
Furthermore, the fact that the famed Russian army still has not subdued Ukraine after six months and has even lost a Russian-majority city like Kharkiv, demonstrates to India that it has not received Russian Your dependence on defense equipment should be reduced.
In fact, India is deeply concerned that the war will continue—as Putin promised—and that the West will be forced to defend Ukraine, no matter the cost. It is clear that India has no choice but to buy subsidized oil from Russia – even if it keeps its nose up on the rest of Russia’s policies.
Second, China. Jaishankar would hope that the US would understand the determination with which India has faced pressure from China over the years with PLA troops along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.
Also, at last week’s SCO summit, Modi made sure there was no photo-op with China’s Xi Jinping, apart from the required group photos. This is another signal to the US that India will play its part in standing up to a assertive China and will play its part in controlling its ally Asian power.
As far as the Democratic Party’s concerns about restrictions on individual liberties in India are concerned, it is highly unlikely that Blinken or US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will directly engage Jaishankar on that front. If they do, it will be a remarkable interference in India’s internal affairs and the US knows it could cool relations further.
But unhappiness is taking its toll in Washington DC – and is manifesting in growing apathy, for example, in the signing of a free trade agreement with India.
Sure enough, Jaishankar has his work cut out in the US for the next ten days.
The author is a consulting editor. She tweets @jomalhotra. Thoughts are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)