The Ups and Downs of Indo-US Relations | PKKH.tv
PKKH Exclusive | by Sidrah Zaheer
During the Cold War Era, India was pro-communism and developed relations with the Soviet Union on strategic, military, economic and diplomatic lines. India followed Soviet Unions political and economic models based on communist ideals. In 1961, India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was against joining any single power bloc. Hence, since the beginning India has been shifting its sides to suit its national interests.
Indias relations with the Soviet Union were a serious concern for the United States. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, India reconsidered its position in the now unipolar world by building relations with the U.S. and its allies. India went through a rigorous economic liberalisation by 1991, which changed its socialist outlook of the world.
India embraced American capitalist ideals as its guiding force and attempted to set up stronger cultural, strategic, military, and economic ties with the U.S. Despite a bit estrangement in the beginning, since 1998 the Indo-U.S. ties have been on a historic positive trajectory. However, India is still the second largest market for Russian arms sales with more than 70% of the Indian military equipment coming from Russia. This proves Indias reluctance to take up the U.S. as its major military partner.
For the U.S., India plays a significant role of furthering its economic and political interests in the region of South Asia and hence as such has been deemed as its regional ally. The U.S. multinational companies have been warmly welcomed to improve Indias economic status, but on the other hand, being competitive they have been detrimental to Indian small scale businesses. Only Indian governments monopoly can weather American economic imperial influences in India. According to Seeking Alpha, Indias largest state-owned natural gas company, GAIL, has been seeking natural gas import through signing deals left and right, and thus exporters in the US dreaming of huge profits from Asian countries are having their hopes crushed. According to The Moderate Voice, India lacks effective regulatory mechanism or transparent rules to monitor foreign and Indian investors activities with no foolproof mechanism to fix corporate responsibility. Thus, it is not just that the U.S. is not good for Indian businesses, but India is also not reliable for the U.S. economys foreign interests.
For political gains, the U.S. has been able to manipulate India based on its natural enmity with Pakistan. But for the region, this creates tensions that have often led the two nuclear-armed neighbours on the brink of war. India is also being exploited as a friendly state in the War on Terror, with the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services finding conducive environment to operate from within. Now, that the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan has been marked by 2014, its presence in the region will again alternate positions.
Pakistan has been working on its relations with Russia for closer strategic and political understanding. India is now feeling the heat of abandoning Russias close ally slot. Although, Russia has assured India by stating that it will not help arm its enemies, but India carries on with its suspicions as Russia is approaching Pakistan for alignment to create a kind of a trio power bloc between China-Pakistan-Russia, amidst which India is threatened by its lone position.
Indian mainstream media and some of its intellectuals have been blindly assuring themselves and the Indian people by such reports as that inThe Times of India saying that the Indo-US relationship has now become institutionalized and isnt actually dependent on a president. However, an editorial in another leading Indian newspaper, Hindustan Times doubts this very assumption by saying that the New Delhi punditocracy has always thought Republican presidents suit India much better than Democratic ones. And a report from The Economic Times mentions a leading Indian-American Republican, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, saying that Barack Obama is now anti-India. Despite this, Indian punditocracy mostly wants to see four more years of President Obama. If presidents dont matter, why should President Obama matter to India now?
Mainstream Indian news media and its intellectuals are not certain of what is right for India when it comes to its relations with the U.S. and its leadership. Whenever the U.S. had presidential elections, India has never been part of its compass of agendas. Although, Indias caucus is said to be one of the strongest in the U.S. Congress, but even that does not play in favour of India, because only the U.S. seems to be taking advantage from it.
Despite incurring economic downside, India naively chooses to ignore what is best in its economic interest. According to International Business Times, India has been depending on Iranian Oil, but upon the U.S. pressure had to reduce its Iranian oil imports. The American journalist Tom Friedman in his interview with Tehelka has suggested that India is a nation going sideways and needs a course correction. Furthermore, he says that India Shining was an exaggeration and that for those who follow the India story, the first word that comes to mind today is paralysis.
Both the U.S. and India have not received satisfactorily from their political and economic relations as they expected. A few intellectuals on both sides have noticed this negative trend and pinpointed it. According to IndUS Business Journal, India as an emerging regional power has no desire to see this region become an arena, and opposes reducing it to a mere highway. The U.S. has been treating this region as a highway for its national interests and this clearly shows a clash of major interests between the U.S. and India.
Thus, the underlying fact behind the media PR for Indo-US relations is that the Obama administration does not expect a lot from India. Subsiding the strong ties reports, the U.S. State Secretary, Hilary Clinton described the two states relations as a strategic bet. Beyond a net security provider, strategically India is nothing more to the U.S. Thus, Indias multi-billion investment plans in Afghanistan are not faring well in this jeopardy of political and economic relations with the U.S, and for its own good it should reconsider its positions.
Source
PKKH Exclusive | by Sidrah Zaheer
During the Cold War Era, India was pro-communism and developed relations with the Soviet Union on strategic, military, economic and diplomatic lines. India followed Soviet Unions political and economic models based on communist ideals. In 1961, India was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which was against joining any single power bloc. Hence, since the beginning India has been shifting its sides to suit its national interests.
Indias relations with the Soviet Union were a serious concern for the United States. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, India reconsidered its position in the now unipolar world by building relations with the U.S. and its allies. India went through a rigorous economic liberalisation by 1991, which changed its socialist outlook of the world.
India embraced American capitalist ideals as its guiding force and attempted to set up stronger cultural, strategic, military, and economic ties with the U.S. Despite a bit estrangement in the beginning, since 1998 the Indo-U.S. ties have been on a historic positive trajectory. However, India is still the second largest market for Russian arms sales with more than 70% of the Indian military equipment coming from Russia. This proves Indias reluctance to take up the U.S. as its major military partner.
For the U.S., India plays a significant role of furthering its economic and political interests in the region of South Asia and hence as such has been deemed as its regional ally. The U.S. multinational companies have been warmly welcomed to improve Indias economic status, but on the other hand, being competitive they have been detrimental to Indian small scale businesses. Only Indian governments monopoly can weather American economic imperial influences in India. According to Seeking Alpha, Indias largest state-owned natural gas company, GAIL, has been seeking natural gas import through signing deals left and right, and thus exporters in the US dreaming of huge profits from Asian countries are having their hopes crushed. According to The Moderate Voice, India lacks effective regulatory mechanism or transparent rules to monitor foreign and Indian investors activities with no foolproof mechanism to fix corporate responsibility. Thus, it is not just that the U.S. is not good for Indian businesses, but India is also not reliable for the U.S. economys foreign interests.
For political gains, the U.S. has been able to manipulate India based on its natural enmity with Pakistan. But for the region, this creates tensions that have often led the two nuclear-armed neighbours on the brink of war. India is also being exploited as a friendly state in the War on Terror, with the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services finding conducive environment to operate from within. Now, that the U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan has been marked by 2014, its presence in the region will again alternate positions.
Pakistan has been working on its relations with Russia for closer strategic and political understanding. India is now feeling the heat of abandoning Russias close ally slot. Although, Russia has assured India by stating that it will not help arm its enemies, but India carries on with its suspicions as Russia is approaching Pakistan for alignment to create a kind of a trio power bloc between China-Pakistan-Russia, amidst which India is threatened by its lone position.
Indian mainstream media and some of its intellectuals have been blindly assuring themselves and the Indian people by such reports as that inThe Times of India saying that the Indo-US relationship has now become institutionalized and isnt actually dependent on a president. However, an editorial in another leading Indian newspaper, Hindustan Times doubts this very assumption by saying that the New Delhi punditocracy has always thought Republican presidents suit India much better than Democratic ones. And a report from The Economic Times mentions a leading Indian-American Republican, Dr. Sampat Shivangi, saying that Barack Obama is now anti-India. Despite this, Indian punditocracy mostly wants to see four more years of President Obama. If presidents dont matter, why should President Obama matter to India now?
Mainstream Indian news media and its intellectuals are not certain of what is right for India when it comes to its relations with the U.S. and its leadership. Whenever the U.S. had presidential elections, India has never been part of its compass of agendas. Although, Indias caucus is said to be one of the strongest in the U.S. Congress, but even that does not play in favour of India, because only the U.S. seems to be taking advantage from it.
Despite incurring economic downside, India naively chooses to ignore what is best in its economic interest. According to International Business Times, India has been depending on Iranian Oil, but upon the U.S. pressure had to reduce its Iranian oil imports. The American journalist Tom Friedman in his interview with Tehelka has suggested that India is a nation going sideways and needs a course correction. Furthermore, he says that India Shining was an exaggeration and that for those who follow the India story, the first word that comes to mind today is paralysis.
Both the U.S. and India have not received satisfactorily from their political and economic relations as they expected. A few intellectuals on both sides have noticed this negative trend and pinpointed it. According to IndUS Business Journal, India as an emerging regional power has no desire to see this region become an arena, and opposes reducing it to a mere highway. The U.S. has been treating this region as a highway for its national interests and this clearly shows a clash of major interests between the U.S. and India.
Thus, the underlying fact behind the media PR for Indo-US relations is that the Obama administration does not expect a lot from India. Subsiding the strong ties reports, the U.S. State Secretary, Hilary Clinton described the two states relations as a strategic bet. Beyond a net security provider, strategically India is nothing more to the U.S. Thus, Indias multi-billion investment plans in Afghanistan are not faring well in this jeopardy of political and economic relations with the U.S, and for its own good it should reconsider its positions.
Source
