Issue :   
We Wish You all a Happy and Safe Holi              March 2020 Edition of Power Politics is updated.
Issue:March' 2020

INDO-US TIES

Challenges & Prospects

Salman Haidar,
former Foreign Secretary of India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi embracing US President Donald Trump upon his arrival at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad

Relations between India and the USA have seldom been entirely easy and equable. While there is much to bind the two countries and bring them closer, they are also subject to frequent misunderstandings and are sometimes divided by real differences of interest.

Prime Minister Modi welcoming President Trump
at Airport in Ahmedabad
US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania
Trump accompanied by Prime Minister
Modi at the Gandhi Ashram, Ahmedabad.

That has been the recurrent pattern of the bilateral relationship. It is only in the last few years, and more particularly in the regime of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that a concerted effort has been made, most notably from the side of India, to break away from long-established ways and seek a style of functioning that charts a different course. The paradigm of this change-over was the ‘Howdy Modi’ event that was staged to greet the Indian leader during his recent visit to the USA.

With that, some of the reticence, more often associated with diplomatic ways of doing things, was deliberately cast aside and the two leaders made common cause to an unusual extent. Also, the Indian diaspora attained r e m a r k a b l e prominence as an important factor in bilateral ties. These features of the revised way of p r o j e c t i n g bilateral relations were visible when U.S. President Donald J. Trump came to India, last month. During his visit to Ahmedabad and Agra, every effort was made to ensure that a spirit of festivity prevailed on the occasion. During his visit to New Delhi, Trump and Modi took several initiatives to advance Indo-US ties further.

Among other matters that can prove awkward in the India-US relationship are issues relating to the Greater Middle East and the Gulf region where US policy on Israel has regional repercussions and puts it at odds with the majority of its surrounding region. More immediate are matters nearer home for India, including Afghanistan, which remains a divisive issue that has defied US efforts to bring it under control.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump
at the Taj Mahal, Agra.
That is all to the good but at some stage more substantive issues cannot be kept at bay, and diplomacy is not to be wholly subsumed in the large-scale gestures that have become so dominant a part of recent Indian practice. Nor can one ignore the negative undercurrents that have recently affected both countries, with USA having just emerged from a bruising impeachment attempt aimed at unseating the President.
It is another matter that Trump came through that encounter after confronting his critics and now seems set to bid for a second term but the world has been taken aback by these developments. Meanwhile, the Indian PM has been under unaccustomed domestic pressure at home where he continues to face a multitude of critics. In both countries dissenting voices may well try to highlight their particular concerns..

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner
at the Taj Mahal.
Beyond matters that could affect the public perception of the Trump visit, there are several issues of substance that would need to be taken into account. Among these, matters other than trade have drawn attention. Here there is a good deal remaining to be done.
Broader strategic issues seem to have been an important part of the high level exchanges, prominent among them being the matter of convergence of views in the ‘Indo-Pacific region’ – a neo-logism that has come into currency only recently but has now developed strategic heft and, with US backing, commands credibility within the region while.
There is no sign of any abatement of China’s economic and strategic progress but within the region dissenting voices are now louder in decrying its methods and purposes, with the USA often outspoken in this regard. There is thus a visible division of purpose between these two major entities and their differences can scarcely be kept under wraps.

President Donald Trump and Melania with Prime Minister Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind and his wife Savita Kovind during Trump's ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi President Trump and his wife Melania at the memorial of Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.

Melania interacting with school children during her visit to a government
school to witness various activities as part of the 'happiness curriculum',
in New Delhi.
There are other bones of contention and recent developments indicate that India and USA could on occasion be on different sides of the argument on some major issues. Russia, that was once India’s staunchest ally and remains a friendly associate, is now under US pressure in its ‘near abroad’.
Among other matters that can prove awkward in the India-US relationship are issues relating to the Greater Middle East and the Gulf region where US policy on Israel has regional repercussions and puts it at odds with the majority of its surrounding region. More immediate are matters nearer home for India, including Afghanistan, which remains a divisive issue that has defied US efforts to bring it under control. India has not enlarged its involvement in that country, notwithstanding occasional US efforts in that direction, being only too well aware of the abundant risks attached.

But more demanding is the relationship with the immediate neighbour Pakistan that continues to do what it can to create discord in the neighourhood and make problems for India. Some prominent US legislators, including, diehard supporters of Pakistan, remain active in this effort. At the same time, India has made no secret of its being disappointed by the expressed willingness of USA to mediate on Kashmir.

With such issues to contend with, Trump will need to walk warily in India.

A new chapter in Indo-US ties

Knowledgeable sources say the outcome of American President Donald J Trump’s visit to India and his talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month is highly positive. It has opened a new chapter in Indo-US ties. During the visit , India and US discussed every important aspect of US-India partnership-- defence and security, energy strategic partnership, trade and people- to- people ties. The two inked three MoUs : on mental health, safety of medical products and cooperation between Indian Oil Corporation and Exxon. They decided to take Indo-US ties to a comprehensive global partnership level. They agreed on a new mechanism to contain drug trafficking.

Boeing AH-64E Apache helicopter New Delhi and Washington announced to give legal shape to trade talks. The two leaders affirmed their countries' commitment to protecting their citizens from radical Islamic terrorism. India and the US finalised defence deals worth $ 3 billion. New Delhi cleared the acquisition of six additional AH-64E Apache attack choppers. The Apache contract for six helicopters for the Indian Army follows a contract for 22 helicopters ordered by the Indian Air Force in 2015. Boeing has already delivered to the Indian Air Force 17 of 22 Apaches; the remaining five will be delivered to the Air Force by the end of March 2020. Deliveries for the Indian Army Apaches are planned to begin in 2023.
Besides, Modi and Trump discussed the importance of a secure 5G wireless network and the need for this emerging technology to be a tool for freedom, progress, prosperity, not to be something that could be conceived as a conduit for any suppression and censorship.