A new paradigm for Indo-U.S. ties

THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION is eager to widen the frontiers of an increasingly vibrant engagement between the United States and India. Noting that Washington has already begun to perceive India as a friend in the changing global strategic environment, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Richard Armitage, has raised visions of laying a fast track for intensified interactions between the U.S., the oldest democracy, and India, the largest democracy. The most significant aspect of the glimpses of new possibilities in the U.S.-India relationship is that the Bush administration will seek to refrain from being ``judgmental up front'' about New Delhi. Openly outlining for the first time an authoritative framework for the U.S.-India equation in the present circumstances, Mr. Armitage has told this newspaper that ``we need to get beyond the post-98 sanctions'' that were imposed on New Delhi in the context of its nuclear arms testing in that year. It is not easy to imagine a snapshot of the state of the Indo-U.S. relationship in the context of a total removal of sanctions. Yet, Mr. Armitage deserves praise for broadly visualising the big picture of the future in answering the fundamental questions about New Delhi's place in the Bush administration's world view. He is looking at the goal of a ``sustainable'' and ``credible'' U.S.-India relationship that will not induce New Delhi and Washington to lean on each other for their own separate interactions with China and Pakistan.

By appearing to portray as still not clear what New Delhi openly hinted at as a firm inclination to support Washington's current plans for a controversial missile defence system, Mr. Armitage may be going by his own conversations with the Vajpayee administration in this regard. For good measure, these ``consultations'' have indeed been elevated to the status of a dialogue between ``one great power'' and ``another''. If India has not really endorsed the grand design of a proposed missile defence system, it is now clear that New Delhi has recognised the need for such a new strategic framework with worldwide implications. Mr. Armitage is pleased that India is not only receptive to the Bush administration's ideas on ``counter- proliferation'' but also keen to welcome Washington's move to reduce its offensive nuclear arsenal as might be considered necessary. On non-proliferation, the other aspect of a four- dimensional strategic order being envisioned by Washington now, Mr. Armitage does not mince words about America's diplomatic challenge of not casting aside the treaties, which have found a large international acceptance, while seeking to assess India's strategic expectations in this connection. For the present, the U.S. does not seem to have calibrated how India should be treated over the so-called benchmarks of such treaties regarding nuclear weapons. However, the unambiguous U.S. message is that a regime of American incentives and disincentives in this sphere could be jettisoned in respect of India.

The present dynamics of the U.S.-India security dialogue, replete with profound strategic concerns, mark a subtle shift from the bilateral consultations during the final months of the previous Clinton administration. The old linkage between New Delhi's non- proliferation behaviour and the India-oriented U.S. sanctions of 1998 is now fast disappearing. Mr. Armitage is looking to a future beyond these sanctions. While this may not be indicative at this stage of any possibility of a definitive U.S.-India strategic bond, Washington says it has no intention of breathing down India's neck in regional diplomacy. It is a sign of realism that Washington is ``not going to get in the middle of (the Kashmir dispute)''. Moreover, while the U.S. wants to fashion a new equation with Pakistan unrelated to any regional or global strategic considerations unlike in the past, Washington is also keen to avoid viewing India as a potentially countervailing frontline state against China. It is for India to make the most of its strategic autonomy.

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Section  : Opinion
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