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Paper no. 1214
06. 01. 2005
US India Relations: Relief, Complacency, Trust & Reality
Guest Column-by Gaurang Bhatt
Fortunately for India, the thrust of Islamic terrorism and the goals of Bin Laden have focused presently on the insurgency in Iraq and the objectives of destabilizing Saudi Arabia to bring a tottering America to its knees. This is a temporary respite which should not make us complacent. It is dictated by Musharraf’s insecurity due to the multiple unsuccessful attempts on his life, that forced him to withdraw support to the Kashmiri terrorists. His pet obsession is still the same, temporarily postponed to selfishly ensure his own survival and dictated by his desperation to prevent a Pakistani economic meltdown. Equally important is America’s failure to prevent the Khan clandestine proliferation of WMDs and elevating Pakistan to the higher status of a key non-NATO ally. America is re-arming Pakistan with offensive, not defensive weapons in the characteristic fashion of an investor constrained by short-sightedness and habit, to repeat its mistakes for the hope of immediate gain.
As Chomsky has repeatedly stated states are not moral agents and behave expediently without ethical constraints. A foolish complacency is still prevalent in India, that America is seeking new alliances from democratic nations for ideological reasons or to constrain China. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Bush administration is held hostage by the CEO contributors, to enrich China by cheap imports to keep the insatiable consumer happy and enrich the CEOs by cashing in their options by increasing the profits of companies importing cheap necessities from China, which increase the profit margin of American corporations. The capitalists will sell the very rope that we communists intend to hang them with is what the Soviet bosses said. While Communism, a faulty ideology not devoid of idealism, has gone down the deserved drain for its incompatibility with human nature like Buddhism, Christianity and the Gita, some of its predictions are still destined for realization!
The visit by Rumsfeld and his offer of pie in the sky may be tempting, it is important to realize that he did similar things with Iraq and Saddam. America is an unreliable ally unless one happens to be subservient like Japan or vitally necessary immediately like Pakistan. The latter has been left at the altar so often that it ceases to be funny. On the other hand Putin has just fired a shot across the bow by letting India know that source codes will not be available to India, if it sources weapons from America or tries to create a hybrid system. Russia has been unreliable in the Yeltsin era, but it is finally beginning to get economic independence from its American created economic debacle of oligarch plunder. This is not right or honest but nations have to look after interests and not ethics in the real world and not repeat Nehruvian blunders prompted by delusions of grandeur and a misguided ego. America has repeatedly proved to be an unreliable arms supplier because of! the whims of its craven congress to look after its long-term interests and their bowing to electoral financial pressures. This is what made its most perspicacious writer Twain state that America has no native criminal class with the single exception of the congress.
The history of its Presidents is equally dismal and the stupidity of its electorate often puts incompetent people in power. It would be extremely foolish for any Indian administration to jeopardize relations with Russia for an unreliable arms supplier like America. It is better to go with Israel with whom we share the common scourge of radical Islam and which has the political clout to influence American policies, while cementing our relations with Russia enough not to make it tilt disastrously towards China. It is also imperative to wean China from Pakistan by strengthening and expanding economic co-operation till China which is interested in countering America, realizes that India is a better ally for a multipolar world than the loser Pakistan. It is critical to build a better and closer relationship with Japan, an economic superpower, chafing at the reins by which America holds it captive. A similar attempt is necessary towards Europe with less hope of major benefit due to the common heritage, but as a source of advanced military and civilian technology. India must do everything to encourage and enhance relationships with a Neo-Gaullist Europe. Korea and the ASEAN group must be nurtured to develop closer relationships. The balance of power is clearly shifting to Asia and America in the future will be a spent and waning power due to the stupidity of its leadership over decades. It is equally important currently not to alienate this star destined for spectacular self-destruction like a supernova, because it is destined to engulf much of its surroundings in its inevitable death throes and lash out like any dying flame.
France offers the best opportunity for advanced Western technology and rather than laying a bet on the radicalized and unstable Middle East for energy resources, it is best to cement a relationship with beleaguered Iran and even make concessions to China to obtain a corridor of access to the Soviet neutralized Central Asian states to secure energy resources. An alliance with Israel for arms is bound to alienate a future radical Saudi Arabia and better relations with the more enlightened and pragmatic Gulf States like Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Oman maybe a short-term strategy. In the long run, an escalated and accelerated strategy for nuclear power, exploration for oil and natural gas and better use of hydro-electric resources, while curtailing energy use by better public transportation and somewhat punitive taxes to restrain the use of personal automobiles is the best recourse. It would be foolish and even foolhardy to dream of achieving the standard of living of the current developed world and permit the unrestrained use of automobiles.
Unlike China, the vagaries of democracy subject India to the whims of the electorate and the selfish indecency of the political class devoid of vision, integrity or altruism. Nevertheless, it is better than the tyranny and oppression that are the natural outcomes of a totalitarian government. Let us not ever forget that the most important things in the needs of a human society are security and basic necessities like food, shelter and amenities like safe potable water and sewage with good public health and only after these have been fulfilled that political freedom enters the stage. The old Sanskrit adage puts it so well, "Bubhukshitam kim na karoti papam"! (What sin will a hungry person not commit?).
(The author is a retired neurophysician and an occasional writer. The views expressed are his own. Email- gpbhatt1@yahoo.com .)
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