On an ordinary globe, India and the United States cannot be seen
together, so far apart are they that when it’s daylight here it is night
there. Yet, preachy, noisy democracies have a strange pull for each
other. They now say that they are in the process of establishing a
strategic relationship, which the cheerleaders declare will be the
defining partnership of the 21st century. The facts on the ground
suggest, however, that both sides continue to hedge and the framework of
the relationship remains somewhat rickety.
The US is pressing India to sign a number of what it calls
“foundational agreements” to operationalise India’s military commitments
implicit in the Joint Strategic Vision for Asia-Pacific and the Indian
Ocean arrived at during President Barack Obama’s
visit to New Delhi in January 2015. Following the recent visit of US
defence secretary Ashton Carter, it was announced that the two sides
were close to signing a logistics support MoU, one of a raft of
technical agreements aimed at bringing the militaries of the two sides
to the point where they can operate together seamlessly.
There is, clearly, in the case of the US, a disconnect between the
almost brash Pentagon wooing of India and the more sophisticated
approach of the US Department of State, which says that the very
existence of a stronger and economically vibrant India will serve US
interests.
From the Indian point of view, there is another disconnect — between
US eagerness for Indian participation in action in the South China Sea,
and its lukewarm approach to an Indian connection in Afghanistan or, for
that matter, the Persian Gulf and the Saudi peninsula.
Technically, the Joint Strategic Vision ought to cover the region,
but the reality is that India is dealt with in the US politico-military
system by the Pacific Command, headquartered in Hawaii, and whose
responsibilities extend up to Diego Garcia. Beyond that, the Central
Command, headquartered in Florida, “looks after” the Persian Gulf,
Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan. When we do military cooperation,
the Indian Ocean does not quite include the northern Arabian Sea and
the Persian Gulf.
However, both from the geo-economic and geo-strategic view, this is
the most important external region for India’s security. We source 70
per cent of our oil from there, and 7 million Indian citizens working
there send back $30 billion in remittances. As our energy needs
increase, this area will only become more important. In the past, we
have had to carry out large-scale evacuations of our nationals because
of war-like situations in this region, most recently from Yemen in 2015.
The prognosis for the stability of the whole region is not
particularly good. Yet, somehow, there are no drills, joint exercises or
planning between the US, which is the dominant power, with a fleet
headquartered in Bahrain, and India for conflict contingencies. It is a
bit odd that all the exercises and activities take place in the east,
which is largely stable and peaceful and none in the area may actually
require cooperative military action. Whereas in East Asia, we are
building trilateral partnerships with the US and its other partners like
Japan, Australia and South Korea, in the Persian Gulf and Saudi
peninsula, we appear to be ploughing a lonely furrow.
Given the rapid rise of China and our own considerable difficulties
with Beijing, having the US as a security partner is useful. With its
million-man army and nuclear weapons, India does not really need the US
for its existential security, certainly not from any direct threat from
China. But we do need partnerships and coalitions to enable us to
maintain a secure periphery that includes a region which will literally
provide the fuel for it.
The US, for its part, wants India to play a role in creating a
balance of power to keep China in check in East Asia. China may be well
ahead of India in almost all measures of what is called comprehensive
national power. But, India is the only country in Asia that can offset
the massive gravitational pull of China. Yet, beyond the need to have
open sea lanes in the South China Sea, India has little or no interest
in facing off with Beijing in the area. Given its huge external trade,
the biggest loser from any disruption would be China itself.
The success of a sound India-US partnership is to clearly think
through some of these issues. The trick is not to be overwhelmed by
rhetoric and keep national interest firmly in mind. The US, let’s be
clear, is seeking Indian friendship to maintain its primacy in the world
system. India, in turn, needs the US as a guarantor of a secure and
stable world system, but especially as a security provider in the
Persian Gulf region, where we have no military capacity.
So while the overall tenor of our relationship is excellent and we
have growing convergence in East Asia, there is need to focus on the
huge gap that exists in relation to the most vital area of our external
interest.
Indian Express May 23, 2016
Thursday, July 28, 2016
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