India US Relations

[SPIEZ]

Indo-US Relations Future


Even as the US continues its precipitous strategic decline, it remains the largest minority shareholder in today's world order and, inevitably, the single most important bilateral partner for India. And yet, despite the regular stream of high-level visits and strategic dialogue, there is a distinct sense that the Indo-US relationship is losing momentum. Against this backdrop the first-ever joint study group report by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Aspen Institute of India on India and the United States: A Shared Strategic Future is a notable effort to jump-start this crucial but increasingly adrift relationship.
The study group, co-chaired by Robert D. Blackwill, a former US ambassador to India; and Naresh Chandra, a former Indian ambassador to the US, comprised leading luminaries from the Indian and US strategic communities. The US members reflect a bipartisan ensemble and included former officials from both Democrat and Republican administrations. The Indian members, however, do not represent all the domestic political hues, notably the ones that see red in a strengthening Indo-US strategic partnership.
Uncharacteristically, the CFR report doesn't have any dissenting notes from its members. This unanimity of views might partly be the result of the skills of the formidable co-chairs and partly the "like-minded" outlook of the members of the group, all of whom are committed to enhancing Indo-US relations.
The report focuses on increased bilateral cooperation in economics, defence, and climate change and energy technology collaboration. In particular, it calls for transforming the strategic dialogue into a strategic and economic dialogue (akin to the US-China one); creating a joint innovation centre for clean energy; discussing interim arrangements for climate change financing and climate finance governance in international organizations and forums. On defence cooperation, the report radically asks the US to "treat India as equivalent to a US ally for the purposes of defence technology disclosure and export controls of defence and dual-use goods, even though India does not seek an actual alliance relationship."
On Pakistan the report urges classified Indo-US exchanges to prepare for different contingencies, "including the collapse of the Pakistan state and the specter of the Pakistan military losing control of its nuclear arsenal". If adopted, this proposal is likely to ring alarm-bells in Islamabad and might further deteriorate Indo-Pakistan and US-Pakistan relations.
Similarly, on China, the report proposes regular bilateral briefings to share their assessment on Beijing's actions and policies; this has already been taken up by the Barack Obama"‹ administration. CFR president, Richard Haass"‹, stressed that India was not being "singled out"; Washington held similar briefings with China's other neighbours, particularly Japan, South Korea and some Asean countries. More dramatically, the report recommends joint policies to "respond to Chinese currency market interventions and tools to combat predatory pricing by Chinese firms" which, if exercised, is likely to rankle China.
While the report's objective was to provide "fresh thinking on the realities of what both US and India face", according to K. Shankar Bajpai, one of the group's members, its effectiveness will be judged on the implementation of the proposals at the official level. However, it is not evident that the report will get official support, particularly in India, given the domestic political climate.
Moreover, despite the like-minded group, there are two issues on which there remain fundamental differences—the political transformation in the Middle East (or West Asia in Indian parlance) and Iran's non-proliferation behaviour. Both have the potential to wreck the evolving Indo-US partnership. While both sides agree on the diagnosis, they disagree on the treatment, as is evident from the divergent positions taken in the international arena. How the two sides manage their differences will impact not only on their bilateral relationship, but also the evolving world order.




I would like to know how would the future of INDO-US relationship be from the perspective of the US friends here!

 

[Daredevil]

We have a thread already on Indo-US relationships. It can be pursued there.

http://defenceforumindia.com/foreign-relations/8338-indo-us-relations.html

 

[Daredevil]

I'm re-opening this thread but unless some substantial base is added to start this thread, it will be closed again. Threads should not be started with statements like " I would like to know the future of Indo-US relations" without adding any substance based on which something can be argued or discussed.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

I'm re-opening this thread but unless some substantial base is added to start this thread, it will be closed again. Threads should not be started with statements like " I would like to know the future of Indo-US relations" without adding any substance based on which something can be argued or discussed.

Understood. You may have noticed that many threads on other subjects go "off-topic" and become discussions about Indo-US relations. The existence of this thread may solve that problem and lead to a valuable exchange of opinions. I, for one, had no idea how many areas of discontent have emerged from Indian perceptions of the actions of Uncle Sam.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

Indian-Americans to play major role in Indo-US ties - The Economic Times

Indian-Americans to play major role in Indo-US ties

NEW YORK: The growing Indian-American community will play a major role in strengthening ties between India and the US, with the diaspora making significant contributions in fields such as technology, services and economy, a senior US State Department official has said.

Addressing members of the Indian-American community here, Mitul Desai, Senior Advisor for Outreach, Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US State Department, said US sees the Indian diaspora as an important partner for fostering continued and close relations between US and India.

"The US-India relationship will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century, but we know that governments alone cannot realize the full promise of this potential and that is why we need the Indian-American community's ideas, energy and commitment," Desai said.

In his role at the State Department, Desai, a second generation Indian-American, engages with the private sector, NGOs as well as various diaspora organizations to strengthen coordination between experts from the two countries.

Desai said the Indian community living on foreign shores has a crucial role to play on a range of issues, including facilitating people-to-people exchanges, internship projects, philanthropy, as well as further accelerating US-India state-state and city-city linkages.

Founder President and Chairman Emeritus of Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) Thomas Abraham said the initiative by the Obama Administration to reach out to the diaspora is a move in the right direction to further intensify relations between the two countries.

"While the Indian American community is growing here, more and more American citizens of Indian origin are returning to India either for better employment opportunities or for retirement. This opens up an opportunity for us to get involved in activities of larger interest to both countries," Abraham added.

Abraham was critical of both governments on issues related to issuance of visas to citizens from the countries adding that the two governments should take more measures to facilitate travel between India and the US.

The interactive session with Desai was organised by major Indian community organizations in New York city, including GOPIO, National Federation of Indian-American Associations (NFIA), American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) and Society of Indo American Engineers and Architects (SIAEA).

 

[SPIEZ]

http://www.firstpost.com/world/comp...ies-to-attain-full-potential-burns-94217.html

:A top US official cautioned domestic political distractions or complacency might fail the two countries in achieving full potential of their bilateral ties. The official observed that a strong partnership with rising India is at the heart of America's vision of a secure and prosperous world. "For our part, accepting India as a global power means learning to agree to disagree sometimes. It means recognising that profound mutual interests and shared values do not add up to unanimity of opinion," Deputy Secretary of State William J Burns said.


US Undersecretary of State William Burns. Reuters

"With cooperation moving forward on so many issues, a few differences need not cause us to lose momentum or ask whether there is a future for our partnership," Burns said in his remarks on 'Is there a future for the US-India partnership?', organised by the Brookings Institute and the FICCI.

"The greatest risk is not disagreement — it is inattention. It is the possibility, through domestic political distractions or failure of imagination or simple complacency, that America and India might leave the full potential of our partnership unmet," he said.
The official said, "The truth is that we have crossed a threshold in our relations where — for both of us, for the first time — our success at home and abroad depends on our cooperation. America's vision of a secure, stable, prosperous twenty-first century world has at its heart a strong partnership with a rising India."
"The question is not whether we have a future, or whether we will have a strategic partnership. The question is whether we are doing as much as we can to ensure that we realise its full promise.
Few questions will matter more — for both of us — in the new century unfolding before us," he said.
Burns said if India and the US want a global strategic partnership, the two must seek out opportunities to act as partners at the UN and other international fora.
The collective action the two nations have endorsed together through the G 20, the Nuclear Security Summit and the Global Counterterrorism Forum, launched last week in New York, "are excellent examples of our capacity to work constructively together to solve the problems no one nation can solve alone," he said.

The United States and India have no fundamental conflicts of interest, so there is no reason why they should not strive to be closer partners in the UN system and beyond, he argued, adding, "that will take time, and we will have our share of frictions along the way, but it is in both our interests to try."

Noting that India has a great deal to offer to societies, Burns applauded New Delhi for agreeing to send election experts to Egypt, and hoped that it can expand support for the
new Libya, and stand with the Syrian people.
"While no country should seek to impose its own political system on others, India remains a stirring example of a successful, multi-party democracy that offers hope to societies wracked by political turmoil and sectarian or tribal divides.
"We hope India will recognise the value of helping others match that achievement," he observed.
"Across the world, I believe that India and America – two leaderships and two peoples with so many converging interests, shared values and common concerns – can help shape
a more secure, stable, democratic and just global system," the official said.

India can make a decisive contribution to building what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called "the global architecture of cooperation" to solve problems that no one country can solve on its own, Burns said.
"That's why the US President, Barack Obama, said that the United States looks forward, in the years ahead, to a reformed United Nations Security Council, with India as a
permanent member."

 

[W.G.Ewald]

As to the original post, my eyes glaze over when I have to read anything by pencil-necked geeks at the CFR. I can tell you that as a natural-born citizen and resident of the US, that Americans look at India as a friend. Indians in America are successful but modest and kind people from everything I have seen. Culturally they are a bit, perhaps, remote. Many Americans may have learned most of what they know about India from "The Simpsons" (Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia). Of course, over the years the same might be said about Germans, Russians or Chinese in America, so conclusions about relationships between countries should be weighed more carefully. Even so, I cannot imagine a future where India and the US are not allies. Saying that, I think no American will ever appreciate what it means to share a border with a country like Pakistan, even if they were familiar the parable of the scorpion and the frog (AesopFables.com - The Scorpion and the Frog - General Fable collection). A variation of the fable has the final words of the scorpion as "It is better we should both perish than that my enemy should live." The US has no enemy like that next door.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

@WG Indians have one of the most favorable views towards USA of any country. Many negative
articles are funded by Chinese communists and communist sympathizers in the Indian press.

 

[SPIEZ]

@WG Kiss Kiss, Bang Bangalore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia was funny
Well these are the misconception that mass media provide about India. Development has gone as far as to every person even in a rural place having a mobile phone in his hand

 

[Daredevil]

Ewald,

I think being large, diverse and representative democracies, US and India are natural allies. But due to cold-war politics and Nehru's non-alignment policies, US and India couldn't forge strong relationship at the government level but people to people contacts wee always robust. With the demise of USSR and cold-war politics and also concomitant economic rise of India naturally made it an attractive market for the US business and USG and slow growth in the Indo-US relationship.

But India post-indpendence has always strived for an independent thinking and independent foreign policy without being part of 'blocks'. And India still strives for an independent foreign policy and doesn't like to take dictation from anyone with regards this. But US in all its relationship with other countries wants a master-slave kind of relationship (US-UK relation) where it wants its allies to be subservient and follow all foreign policies laid down by it without a question. And that is where most Indians and Indian establishment doesn't like the US. Otherwise US is a place that most people in India would like to emulate.

 

[Galaxy]

US backing India for military exercises: Pak daily

Islamabad, October 12, 2011

India will be holding military exercises along the Sino-Pak border areas "without any formal advance intimation to either Beijing or Islamabad" as it has the backing of the US, said a Pakistani daily.

The Nation said in an editorial that in less than a month's time, India will be

holding "second round of military exercises along the Sino-Pak border areas using Russian-made T-20 tanks without any formal advance intimation to either Beijing or Islamabad".

"These are not routine exercises and are being held with a purpose.

"Defence experts and observers are of the view that these war games are being held with full blessing of the United States which is bent upon propping up India as a counterweight to China in the backdrop of Beijing's rise as the next super power both economically and with defence point of view," it said.

The editorial added, "There is an urgent need to explore all our options to revisit our defence deal with China and look for new vistas for arms purchases since the United States is not a reliable ally anymore."

The US-Pakistan ties became strained following the May 2 killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad city.

 

[SPIEZ]

US backing India for military exercises: Pak daily

Islamabad, October 12, 2011

India will be holding military exercises along the Sino-Pak border areas "without any formal advance intimation to either Beijing or Islamabad" as it has the backing of the US, said a Pakistani daily.

The Nation said in an editorial that in less than a month's time, India will be

holding "second round of military exercises along the Sino-Pak border areas using Russian-made T-20 tanks without any formal advance intimation to either Beijing or Islamabad".

"These are not routine exercises and are being held with a purpose.

"Defence experts and observers are of the view that these war games are being held with full blessing of the United States which is bent upon propping up India as a counterweight to China in the backdrop of Beijing's rise as the next super power both economically and with defence point of view," it said.

The editorial added, "There is an urgent need to explore all our options to revisit our defence deal with China and look for new vistas for arms purchases since the United States is not a reliable ally anymore."

The US-Pakistan ties became strained following the May 2 killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad city.

hahahaha

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Daredevil writes:

But India post-indpendence has always strived for an independent thinking and independent foreign policy without being part of 'blocks'. And India still strives for an independent foreign policy and doesn't like to take dictation from anyone with regards this. But US in all its relationship with other countries wants a master-slave kind of relationship (US-UK relation) where it wants its allies to be subservient and follow all foreign policies laid down by it without a question. And that is where most Indians and Indian establishment doesn't like the US. Otherwise US is a place that most people in India would like to emulate.

It occurs to me that the major allies of the US include two large countries which it has defeated in war and occupied for years. Maybe that has led to the overbearing posture you speak of. Or maybe the US is universally just too full of itself.

 

[Adux]

Daredevil writes:

It occurs to me that the major allies of the US include two large countries which it has defeated in war and occupied for years. Maybe that has led to the overbearing posture you speak of. Or maybe the US is universally just too full of itself.

Ewald,

I think you should say US'G' has overbearing position and is full of itself at times. We are too proud, independent and self-sufficient to care two hoots. I have never seen an American from the point of being a citizen of USA being over bearing or full of themselves as a general rule. But then I can tell you one thing for sure, if the roles were reversed, we would do the same.

 

[trackwhack]

Sonofabi... am I going to avoid this thread.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Sonofabi... am I going to avoid this thread.

You've probably been in the States long enough to have heard this:

"Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

 

[W.G.Ewald]

The Nation said in an editorial that in less than a month's time, India will be holding "second round of military exercises along the Sino-Pak border areas using Russian-made T-20 tanks without any formal advance intimation to either Beijing or Islamabad".

T-20 a misprint?

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Ewald,

I think you should say US'G' has overbearing position and is full of itself at times. We are too proud, independent and self-sufficient to care two hoots. I have never seen an American from the point of being a citizen of USA being over bearing or full of themselves as a general rule. But then I can tell you one thing for sure, if the roles were reversed, we would do the same.

Post #5 by LETHALFORCE in this thread holds the answer. Diplomacy is carried out by people appointed by their governments. Getting more people involved via NGOs can only bring benefits, without any significant costs that I can think of.

 

[trackwhack]

You've probably been in the States long enough to have heard this:

"Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out."

im staying as audience sista

 

[W.G.Ewald]

im staying as audience sista

You will be unable to just lurk and say nothing.