Hot Lecturette/Group Discussion Topics: Indo-US Relations: Why USA Needs India?
Hello friends i have been continuously asked to put a post on Indo-US relations as this is really important
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| Indo-US relationship : Why USA needs India |
Indo- US Relations During the Cold War Era
- During the cold
war era, most countries of the world got aligned towards either of the the
two power blocks, i.e. USSR (Warsaw Pact Nations) or the US led Western
Block (NATO Countries).
- Pakistan joined
the US led Western Block in 1954, while India decided to adopted the
Non-Alingned ploicy and refrained from joining any of the power blocks,
however, it had a visible leaning towards the Soviet Union.
- After
independence, in the early 1950s, India was largely dependent on America
and Soviet Union for food and provision of development loans. During this
period the share of aid from USA surpassed that of USSR by nearly double.
- Like in the
present times, USA regarded India as a strategic parterner and a counter
weight to the rise of Communist China.
- That is why
Kennedy admnistration openly supported India during the Sino-India war of
1962 and called it a blattant act of aggression by China.
- USA, towards the
end of the war, also flew in humanitarian and limited military hardware supplies
for the Indian troops.
- After the
assasination of Kennedy in 1963, the Indo-US relationship gradually
deteriorated under the Nixon admnistration. He established close ties with
Pakistan and provided military and economic aid to Pakistan.
- A major reason
for the American policy shift was that India strated demonstrating
closeness with the Soviet Union and the US wanted a close ally to counter
the Soviet influence in the region.
- During the
Indo-Pak war of 1971, USA openly provided Pakistan with military and moral
support. In fact they even deployed their aircraft carrier ‘USS
Enterprise’ towards the Bay of Bengal as a show of force during the war.
- In 1974 India
conducted its first Nuclear Test much to the annoyance of the US, who
called for imposing a ban on the export of nuclear material to India in
1978, as India was not a signatory of Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
- When Soviet
Union invaded Afghanistan in 1980, the Regan admnistration improved ties
with India, besides maintaining better ties with Pakistan to continue to
maintain a credible influence in the area.
- During this
period a range of selected military technologies were supplied to India,
like, super computers, night visions, radars, gas turbines for naval
frigates and engines for India’s light combat aircraft.
Indo-US Relations After the Disintegration of USSR
- The first ripple
of unplesantness occured in the Indo-US relationship when PM Atal Bihari
Vajpayee gorvenment conducted the nuclear weapon testing in Pokhran in May
1998.
- USA voted for a
UN Security Council Resolution condeming the tests and President Bill
Clinton imposed economic sanctions on India, including cutting off all
military and economic aid, freezing loans by American banks to Indian
companies, prohibiting American aerospace technology and uranium exports
to India.
- These sanctions
had little effect on Indian economy as it had very limited tarde with the
USA at that point.
- The sanctions
were soon lifted and President Clinton visited India in Mar 2000. During
this visit, the Indo-US Science & Technology Forum was established.
- During the
period from 2001 to 2006, especially after the September 2001 attack on
the World Trade Centre, the Indo-US relationship blossomed under the Bush
admnistration.
- The main areas
of confluence were, fighting islamic extremism, energy security and
fighting climate change.
- During the
period from 2004 to 2008, bilateral trade between the two countries
trippled.
- The Indo-US
Civil Nuclear Agreement, called the 123 Agreement was signed in Oct 2008.
- In November
2010, President Barack Obama visited India and addressed a joint session
of Indian Parliament and backed India’s bid for permanent seat in the UN
Security Council.
- In the previous
two to three years a lot of bilateral initiatives have been taken on the
following areas: countering terrorism, disarmament and non-proliferation,
trade and economic relations, energy security, climate change,
agriculture, education, health and science and technological development.
- PM Modi is
scheduled to visit USA in the end of September 2014 and lot is being
expected out of this visit.
Why USA Needs India?
- The following
issues are very high on priority for USA to remain dominant in the world
affairs and to maintain the balance of power, which no country in Eurasia
or Asia can challenge:
a.
Contain China’s military and economic expansionism.
b.
Effectively control the spread of islamic terrorism in AF-Pak and
middle east region (Iraq-Syria).
c.
Stub Russia’s influence in Ukraine, through coericive diplomacy.
d.
Increase leverage in Iran through a 'stick and carrot' approach.
e.
improve economy at home and generate employment.
- The above
mentioned issues, are also the core issues being discussed during the
ongoing meet of the heads of NATO countries at Wales.
- In most of the
above explicit requirements, India can play a decisive role. How it could
do that, is discussed in the succeeding paras.
- China’s policy
of ‘String of Peals’ by having a major presence and aggresive posture in
the sub continent can be effectively countered through India’s ‘Look East’
policy.
- USA is keenly
observing and supporting India in its views on calling China’s ambition to
expand its maritime borders in the South China and East China sea as an
unreasonable act of aggression.
- The recent visit
of PM Modi to Japan, his ongoing endeavour to improve ties with SAARC
countries and the SE Asian nations, is a clear signal to China that India
can not be brow beaten.
- India happens to
be one of the largest donors for Afghanistan’s reconstruction. It donated
$ 1.2 billon, which makes it the largest donor in the region.
- Hence, after the
exit of the US troops from Afghanistan, India is bound to play a pivotal
role in the geo-politics of democratic Afghanistan.
- Condidering the
known bias of Pakistan ISI and Military towards the Taliban, India will be
its most reliable strtegic parter in keeping the fundamentalist forces in
check in the region.
- Since, India has
traditionally maintained good relations with Iran and Russia, it can play
an important role of a mediator between Iran-US and Russia-US to resolve
the ongoing politico-military stalemate.
- India provides
the largest number of consumers for American goods, (every sixth human on
the globe is an Indian). To boost American economy Indians must flurish
and consume to make US businesses and manufacturing to run profitably and
also generate employment.
- India is the
largest supplier of young human resource for both, blue collar and white
collar jobs in America.
- India provides
the cutting edge technocrats to work and promote American interests.
- USA has now
surpassed Russia as India’s number one defence supplier. India has signed
/ is in the process of signing major Defence deals with USA, like, ‘M-777’
Ultra-light Howitzers, ‘Javilin’ Anti Tank Guided Missiles, UAVs, 'Apache'
Attack & 'Chinook' Heavy- Lift Helicopters.
- Incidently, The
145 Ultra-Light M-777 Howitzers are being procurred for the new mountain
corps being raised to counter the Chinese threat in NE India.
- Hence, in the
conclusion I would like to say that USA views India as an emerging
regional economic and military power, that can act as its strategic
partner and an economic money spinner. The convergence of interests on
regional, and most global issues is further cementing the relationship.
Contributor to this Post:
Facilitator and Trainer. He specialises in memory management, EQ and SQ. Has a vast experience in group skills development. , Ex Member Services Selection Board. (Trained at Defence Institute of Psychological Research, DRDO in Psychology with special focus on Competency based Evaluation through Group Dynamics) Held numerous training and motivational programmes on Leadership and Team Building for over 22 years. He is an expert in memory management.
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Deepak Tomar
I'm Deepak Tomar. I have completed my M.Tech in Computer Science and now i am working as a Govt. Employee in UP Police, I Love to help others and making friends, you can connect to me on facebook for any help- I will be happy to help you .
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