Bush in India: In Search of a Strategic Ally to Conquer Asia
L. Manu
President George W. Bush and the US delegation concluded its India visit on March 3, 2006 by asserting that "India in the 21st century is a natural partner of the United States because we are brothers in the cause of human liberty." With these words, the US sought to bring closure to the evolving post-Cold War search for an ally in Asia that would replicate the likes of the US-UK alliance in Europe and the US-Israeli alliance in the Middle East.
The alliance that the US built in Asia during the Cold War, especially with Japan, Philippines and South Korea, played out in its favor within the bipolar division of the world. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and the US declared victory in Europe, its Asian alliances could not be developed any further to serve the new post Cold War ambitions to conquer Asia. Immediately, the US embarked upon the path of rearranging the security architecture of the post Second World War world to emerge as the uncontested power in a multipolar world. Fifteen years later, the contours of that rearrangement have been spelt out in the form of "natural partnership" between the US and India.
US Quadrennial defense review of 2005 openly lays down the US policy "to build strategic partnerships with other countries to counter possible risks to American interests around the world some 20-30 years from now". It wants to ensure that no other country, or collection of countries, come close to the US in terms of the military or economic power". It speaks of the US find a country to build special relationship, with an Asian country to manage Asia akin to the "special relationship" with the UK in the 20th century to manage Europe...The new candidate for "special relationship" with the US has "to share all the concerns of the US about China but without the potential to become a threat itself. It also must offer trading opportunities being siphoned off by China. India, with hostile neighbors, aspiring middle class and global ambitions fits the perfect choice."
In his closing speech in Delhi, Mr. Bush put this policy into motion when he declared that "by leading together, America and India can meet ... global challenges", asserting that "the United States of America and the Republic of India are working together to achieve two great purposes: to expand the circle of prosperity and development across the world, and to defeat our common enemies by advancing the just and noble cause of human freedom". He listed the areas where the US and India are leading together for the cause of "prosperity and freedom" in these words: "THE WORLD .... NEEDS INDIA'S LEADERSHIP TO OPEN UP GLOBAL MARKETS and that "America and India are allies in the war against terror and ...we will win this war together..... America and India will bring the light of freedom to the darkest corners of our Earth.... INDIA'S LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED IN A WORLD THAT IS HUNGRY FOR FREEDOM" (emphasis added).
During the State dinner on March 2nd, the President of India, Mr. Kalam, pointedly gave unreserved and unwarranted support to Mr. Bush's vision to "build free and prosperous societies" (around the world) to make "America more secure and the world more peaceful". According to Mr. Kalam, "I consider this (security) as your core competence along with technological and economic strength" - words that very few world statesmen and even the US domestic politicians are willing to say with a clear conscience!
It was not a surprise that this President and his government will defy the popular sentiment of the Indian people to give support for Bush's war-mongering diplomacy and quest for penetrating Asian markets. Mr. Kalam had laid out the vision of the Indian government along the same lines in his address to the joint session of the Parliament and he repeated that vision in front of Mr. Bush during the State dinner on March 2nd again so that no one misses the stand of the Indian government on the side of the US government on the two key questions of our times- militarism in global security and neo-liberal economic reforms. In Mr. Kalam's words,
"The Indian developmental model is anchored in the belief that human progress and human freedom are inseparable. As we seek to realise our aspirations, the people of India believe that the United States shares their vision of a better future and will partner them in the endeavour to become a Developed India.... Our partnership would become a truly global one when we step out together to address the key challenges of our times – whether they be of terrorism, energy demand, clean development, natural disasters or health pandemics. Our ability to work together, finding solutions and reinforcing capabilities, can benefit others in need.... India will be a key player in the global knowledge economy that is coming into being and is a natural partner for the United States, with its strong tradition of innovation and creativity."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose bravado in the past includes reciting Bismil's couplet "sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai....." when introducing the economic liberalization and privatization program in 1991 took his "fearlessness" to new heights by declaring that there was "no force that could stop" the choice he is making on the side of the US now!
With this visit, the US took a step towards ending the post second world war policy of "regional containment and no war-no peace between India and Pakistan". It closed the chapter that had reached a dead end by 2000, culminating in the infamous pronouncement of the then US president Mr. Clinton that the "Line of Control was the most dangerous place on earth" and his eagerness to offer the US "help" to de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan. What Clinton was not able to achieve in 2000 was sealed in 2006 by Mr. Bush because of a confluence of interests. After a 15 year search, the Indian State had chosen to go with the US to realize its ambitions for becoming a big power. The US had convinced itself that by allying with India, it could not only contain India's ambitions but also use it to contain China's ambitions in Asia. It had decided not to maintain a tense Indo-Pak border.
The US has been pursuing its Asia strategy with focus on India even before the end of the Cold War. The US Congress established a South Asia Bureau over 15 years ago to pay new attention to India and an Assistant secretary in charge of South Asian affairs has been operating in the State department in Washington for more than 10 years. Recent appointments in the State department saw 12 of the 74 new positions go to India and another 15 to China while Germany and Russia lost 7 and 10 positions respectively. Besides embracing the values of the Paris Charter of 1991 and implementing its market economy reforms, India has been on the side of the US on promoting multiparty democracy and rights of global capital since 1991. When the US realigned its South Asia policy to offer Pakistan military hardware normally limited to its NATO allies, it offered India the prospects of close Indo-US military alliance and a secure Western border so that India could develop a "look East" policy.
India has officially adopted a "Look East" policy, departing from the old Nehruvian policy (even Curzonian policy) that envisioned "India's zone of influence spanning from Baghdad to Camroon Bay", reaffirmed recently by the Vajapayee government. With the US blessing, India has set out to strengthen its Naval and air presence on the South East Asian waters. Mr. Kalam had spelt out these features of Indian diplomacy in his speech to the joint session of the Parliament in February 2006 very eloquently.
"The foreign policy of my Government is, as has always been the case, guided by enlightened national interest. It has been oriented to enlarge our policy choice....We attach high importance to strengthening our relations with our global economic partners. Our relations with the United States underwent a substantial transformation in 2005 and we carry forward our strategic partnership based on the July 18 Joint Statement of the Prime Minister and the US President. Government expects that the country may gain access to international cooperation for enlargement of our civilian nuclear energy sector based on the reciprocal commitments of India and the US in the Joint Statement. Parliament will be appraised of the on-going discussions on this subject in this session. The India-US relationship also encompasses many more important issues. Major initiatives are underway to encourage the expansion of investment, trade and technology transfers, accelerate cooperation in agriculture, health and human resource development, in cooperation for energy security, a framework for defence cooperation and expanding cooperation on key global challenges.
India maintains strategic partnerships with France, Germany and the UK, Our "Look East" policy was further strengthened with India’s participation in the historic East Asia Summit held in Kuala Lumpur which has the potential of defining the future regional architecture. This last year saw a marked change in the global perception of India as an influential actor on the international stage. This was a recognition of our emergence as a strong economy; of our ability to adjust to change – economic and social; and, of our capability to shoulder responsibilities – global and regional. Our country is destined to regain its due place in the comity of nations in the 21st century."
The outcome of Bush visit was summed up as follows by the magazine Newsweek:
"The rise of China is the fundamental strategic shift that is altering Asia's - and the world's-landscape. And the United States and India will be glad to have each other's company in that circumstances....Washington and New Delhi have different interests and thus will inevitably have policy disputes... The point is to build a relationship and association so that those disagreements do not lead to open struggle. India wants to be a great power in the world "in which it moves confidently across the global stage, and in which it is a friend and partner of the most powerful country in history".
Summing up the accomplishments of the George Bush-Manmohan Singh summit and the host of protocols signed during the visit, BBC commented that "India looks set to end its atomic isolation, without any caps on its nuclear arsenal and without opening up its plutonium-producing fast breeder reactors to international inspection.... According to the US State Department, the US wants to be helpful to India as "it emerges as a world power" without defining economic or military power." This echoed what the US undersecretary of Sate Mr. Nicholas Burns had laid out before the summit: "It (the economic and strategic protocols under consideration at the time) would have enormous benefits for India....This would really allow India to engage in international trade, in technology, in research and development with other countries who have scientific institutions in a way that has not been possible for thirty years. It would allow the nonproliferation community internationally, the regime that has been established internationally, to have the benefit of India meeting the same standards and practices in the civil sphere (as) the rest of us have been meeting for a long time."
Mr. Bush's trip met with mass opposition not only In Delhi and Hyderabad where he visited, but also in all the major cities of India (and Pakistan). Some 30 million people are estimated to have taken to the streets to denounce the US war in Iraq, oppose Mr. Bush's visit to India and reject the attempt of the Manmohan Singh government to closely ally India to the criminal US state bent on economic and military domination of the globe. There was a multifold increase of the number of demonstrators compared to the same in 2000 when President Mr. Bill Clinton paid his state visit. The credibility of the US state as promoters of freedom and peace is at an all time low and opposition to his politics is widespread. The support of many parliamentary parties for the street demonstrations this time was a departure from their antipathy in 2000. Because of the opposition of the Samajwadi party, CPI, CPI(M) and others, Mr. Manmohan Singh abandoned the idea of Mr. Bush addressing the Parliament. Manmohan Singh government has gone ahead with the signing of the many protocols and pacts with the US to tie the two militaries and economies together, but people can block the implementation of them by persisting on their rejection of the growing collaboration between Manmohan Singh and Bush regimes.
What is needed to transform India as a factor of peace in the world while assuring its people prosperity and security is to contest the vision of Indian business houses to make India a world power on the backs of the people by a vision to make India a beacon for prosperity and peace through the realization of the rights of the people. One immediate issue is to fight against the Manmohan Singh government's policy of paying out monetary and other material concession to the rich in the name of development and forcing it to increase domestic spending on social programs- the exact opposite of what Bush is demanding of India. On the security front, people have to reject the path of militarization to project India's big power status and build close relationship amongst the peoples of India, Pakistan and all other countries in the region for collective defense of rights of nations and peoples being negated by global capital and global powers.
full article...
President George W. Bush and the US delegation concluded its India visit on March 3, 2006 by asserting that "India in the 21st century is a natural partner of the United States because we are brothers in the cause of human liberty." With these words, the US sought to bring closure to the evolving post-Cold War search for an ally in Asia that would replicate the likes of the US-UK alliance in Europe and the US-Israeli alliance in the Middle East.
The alliance that the US built in Asia during the Cold War, especially with Japan, Philippines and South Korea, played out in its favor within the bipolar division of the world. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and the US declared victory in Europe, its Asian alliances could not be developed any further to serve the new post Cold War ambitions to conquer Asia. Immediately, the US embarked upon the path of rearranging the security architecture of the post Second World War world to emerge as the uncontested power in a multipolar world. Fifteen years later, the contours of that rearrangement have been spelt out in the form of "natural partnership" between the US and India.
US Quadrennial defense review of 2005 openly lays down the US policy "to build strategic partnerships with other countries to counter possible risks to American interests around the world some 20-30 years from now". It wants to ensure that no other country, or collection of countries, come close to the US in terms of the military or economic power". It speaks of the US find a country to build special relationship, with an Asian country to manage Asia akin to the "special relationship" with the UK in the 20th century to manage Europe...The new candidate for "special relationship" with the US has "to share all the concerns of the US about China but without the potential to become a threat itself. It also must offer trading opportunities being siphoned off by China. India, with hostile neighbors, aspiring middle class and global ambitions fits the perfect choice."
In his closing speech in Delhi, Mr. Bush put this policy into motion when he declared that "by leading together, America and India can meet ... global challenges", asserting that "the United States of America and the Republic of India are working together to achieve two great purposes: to expand the circle of prosperity and development across the world, and to defeat our common enemies by advancing the just and noble cause of human freedom". He listed the areas where the US and India are leading together for the cause of "prosperity and freedom" in these words: "THE WORLD .... NEEDS INDIA'S LEADERSHIP TO OPEN UP GLOBAL MARKETS and that "America and India are allies in the war against terror and ...we will win this war together..... America and India will bring the light of freedom to the darkest corners of our Earth.... INDIA'S LEADERSHIP IS NEEDED IN A WORLD THAT IS HUNGRY FOR FREEDOM" (emphasis added).
During the State dinner on March 2nd, the President of India, Mr. Kalam, pointedly gave unreserved and unwarranted support to Mr. Bush's vision to "build free and prosperous societies" (around the world) to make "America more secure and the world more peaceful". According to Mr. Kalam, "I consider this (security) as your core competence along with technological and economic strength" - words that very few world statesmen and even the US domestic politicians are willing to say with a clear conscience!
It was not a surprise that this President and his government will defy the popular sentiment of the Indian people to give support for Bush's war-mongering diplomacy and quest for penetrating Asian markets. Mr. Kalam had laid out the vision of the Indian government along the same lines in his address to the joint session of the Parliament and he repeated that vision in front of Mr. Bush during the State dinner on March 2nd again so that no one misses the stand of the Indian government on the side of the US government on the two key questions of our times- militarism in global security and neo-liberal economic reforms. In Mr. Kalam's words,
"The Indian developmental model is anchored in the belief that human progress and human freedom are inseparable. As we seek to realise our aspirations, the people of India believe that the United States shares their vision of a better future and will partner them in the endeavour to become a Developed India.... Our partnership would become a truly global one when we step out together to address the key challenges of our times – whether they be of terrorism, energy demand, clean development, natural disasters or health pandemics. Our ability to work together, finding solutions and reinforcing capabilities, can benefit others in need.... India will be a key player in the global knowledge economy that is coming into being and is a natural partner for the United States, with its strong tradition of innovation and creativity."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose bravado in the past includes reciting Bismil's couplet "sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamare dil me hai....." when introducing the economic liberalization and privatization program in 1991 took his "fearlessness" to new heights by declaring that there was "no force that could stop" the choice he is making on the side of the US now!
With this visit, the US took a step towards ending the post second world war policy of "regional containment and no war-no peace between India and Pakistan". It closed the chapter that had reached a dead end by 2000, culminating in the infamous pronouncement of the then US president Mr. Clinton that the "Line of Control was the most dangerous place on earth" and his eagerness to offer the US "help" to de-escalate tension between India and Pakistan. What Clinton was not able to achieve in 2000 was sealed in 2006 by Mr. Bush because of a confluence of interests. After a 15 year search, the Indian State had chosen to go with the US to realize its ambitions for becoming a big power. The US had convinced itself that by allying with India, it could not only contain India's ambitions but also use it to contain China's ambitions in Asia. It had decided not to maintain a tense Indo-Pak border.
The US has been pursuing its Asia strategy with focus on India even before the end of the Cold War. The US Congress established a South Asia Bureau over 15 years ago to pay new attention to India and an Assistant secretary in charge of South Asian affairs has been operating in the State department in Washington for more than 10 years. Recent appointments in the State department saw 12 of the 74 new positions go to India and another 15 to China while Germany and Russia lost 7 and 10 positions respectively. Besides embracing the values of the Paris Charter of 1991 and implementing its market economy reforms, India has been on the side of the US on promoting multiparty democracy and rights of global capital since 1991. When the US realigned its South Asia policy to offer Pakistan military hardware normally limited to its NATO allies, it offered India the prospects of close Indo-US military alliance and a secure Western border so that India could develop a "look East" policy.
India has officially adopted a "Look East" policy, departing from the old Nehruvian policy (even Curzonian policy) that envisioned "India's zone of influence spanning from Baghdad to Camroon Bay", reaffirmed recently by the Vajapayee government. With the US blessing, India has set out to strengthen its Naval and air presence on the South East Asian waters. Mr. Kalam had spelt out these features of Indian diplomacy in his speech to the joint session of the Parliament in February 2006 very eloquently.
"The foreign policy of my Government is, as has always been the case, guided by enlightened national interest. It has been oriented to enlarge our policy choice....We attach high importance to strengthening our relations with our global economic partners. Our relations with the United States underwent a substantial transformation in 2005 and we carry forward our strategic partnership based on the July 18 Joint Statement of the Prime Minister and the US President. Government expects that the country may gain access to international cooperation for enlargement of our civilian nuclear energy sector based on the reciprocal commitments of India and the US in the Joint Statement. Parliament will be appraised of the on-going discussions on this subject in this session. The India-US relationship also encompasses many more important issues. Major initiatives are underway to encourage the expansion of investment, trade and technology transfers, accelerate cooperation in agriculture, health and human resource development, in cooperation for energy security, a framework for defence cooperation and expanding cooperation on key global challenges.
India maintains strategic partnerships with France, Germany and the UK, Our "Look East" policy was further strengthened with India’s participation in the historic East Asia Summit held in Kuala Lumpur which has the potential of defining the future regional architecture. This last year saw a marked change in the global perception of India as an influential actor on the international stage. This was a recognition of our emergence as a strong economy; of our ability to adjust to change – economic and social; and, of our capability to shoulder responsibilities – global and regional. Our country is destined to regain its due place in the comity of nations in the 21st century."
The outcome of Bush visit was summed up as follows by the magazine Newsweek:
"The rise of China is the fundamental strategic shift that is altering Asia's - and the world's-landscape. And the United States and India will be glad to have each other's company in that circumstances....Washington and New Delhi have different interests and thus will inevitably have policy disputes... The point is to build a relationship and association so that those disagreements do not lead to open struggle. India wants to be a great power in the world "in which it moves confidently across the global stage, and in which it is a friend and partner of the most powerful country in history".
Summing up the accomplishments of the George Bush-Manmohan Singh summit and the host of protocols signed during the visit, BBC commented that "India looks set to end its atomic isolation, without any caps on its nuclear arsenal and without opening up its plutonium-producing fast breeder reactors to international inspection.... According to the US State Department, the US wants to be helpful to India as "it emerges as a world power" without defining economic or military power." This echoed what the US undersecretary of Sate Mr. Nicholas Burns had laid out before the summit: "It (the economic and strategic protocols under consideration at the time) would have enormous benefits for India....This would really allow India to engage in international trade, in technology, in research and development with other countries who have scientific institutions in a way that has not been possible for thirty years. It would allow the nonproliferation community internationally, the regime that has been established internationally, to have the benefit of India meeting the same standards and practices in the civil sphere (as) the rest of us have been meeting for a long time."
Mr. Bush's trip met with mass opposition not only In Delhi and Hyderabad where he visited, but also in all the major cities of India (and Pakistan). Some 30 million people are estimated to have taken to the streets to denounce the US war in Iraq, oppose Mr. Bush's visit to India and reject the attempt of the Manmohan Singh government to closely ally India to the criminal US state bent on economic and military domination of the globe. There was a multifold increase of the number of demonstrators compared to the same in 2000 when President Mr. Bill Clinton paid his state visit. The credibility of the US state as promoters of freedom and peace is at an all time low and opposition to his politics is widespread. The support of many parliamentary parties for the street demonstrations this time was a departure from their antipathy in 2000. Because of the opposition of the Samajwadi party, CPI, CPI(M) and others, Mr. Manmohan Singh abandoned the idea of Mr. Bush addressing the Parliament. Manmohan Singh government has gone ahead with the signing of the many protocols and pacts with the US to tie the two militaries and economies together, but people can block the implementation of them by persisting on their rejection of the growing collaboration between Manmohan Singh and Bush regimes.
What is needed to transform India as a factor of peace in the world while assuring its people prosperity and security is to contest the vision of Indian business houses to make India a world power on the backs of the people by a vision to make India a beacon for prosperity and peace through the realization of the rights of the people. One immediate issue is to fight against the Manmohan Singh government's policy of paying out monetary and other material concession to the rich in the name of development and forcing it to increase domestic spending on social programs- the exact opposite of what Bush is demanding of India. On the security front, people have to reject the path of militarization to project India's big power status and build close relationship amongst the peoples of India, Pakistan and all other countries in the region for collective defense of rights of nations and peoples being negated by global capital and global powers.
full article...
posted by charcha-editor at 10:31
0 comments
