US-India Relations Face Serious Concerns

The US is losing its influence in Middle-East, and Asia rapidly. The war of terror harmed the Muslim world and the US lost its goodwill in the whole Muslim world. Especially. Its unconditional support to the Jewish State of Israel, its enmity with Iran, and the War in Afghanistan harm the US reputation.

That is why the US has been focusing on India and signed several agreements of strategic in nature and assisting India out of the way to bring up. The US wanted India to become a reliable, strong partner, which can protect American interests in the region.

Does India have such a capacity or a will or intention? India is a diverse country with many ethnic minorities, the biggest minority is Muslims, followed by Christians and Sikhs, etc. Even, in the Hindu religion, there are four castes, Brahmans the superior most and Untouchables the lowest one. To build absolute consensus in India is impossible.

Since Prime Minister Modi came into power, he supported the extremist Hindu factions. He has appointed such fanatics on senior positions and all policy-making and decision-making have converged into the hands of extremists. As a result, India is no longer a democratic country nor a secular state.

The US is really worried over the deterioration of democracy in India and poor records of human rights. The US has concerns over the treatment of the Indian Government to its minorities and ethnic groups. The mismanagement of the Pandemic is also a matter of grave concern for the US. The US is worried if they invest on India heavily, and at the time of need, India may not be able to protect the US strategic interests.

Blinken and Modi
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting in New Delhi on July 28, 2021

The US Secretary of State visited India on 27-28 July 2021. In the joint press conference that ended his one-day visit to India, United States secretary of state Anthony Blinken did not try to hide the US’s discomfiture over the turn that Indian democracy has taken in the past several years under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Answering a question posed by the Wall Street Journal’s correspondent, he readily admitted that “shared democratic relations and high ideals were very much a part of our conversation”. Since busy world leaders do not waste time having conversations on things they completely agree on, Blinken was signaling, in diplomatese, that the two sides do not see eye on the fate that has befallen these high ideals.

The language of diplomacy has its own conventions. One of these is to disguise admonition as praise. The former was abundantly visible in Blinken’s statements. The secretary of state lavished praise on India’s democracy, but its underlying message was that the Biden administration’s relationship with India would depend upon the extent to which the Modi government respects the written and unwritten rules and conventions of democracy. He softened the message by admitting that American democracy too was a work in progress, but his message was clear: violations of human rights and freedoms occurred in the US too, but its federal and state governments did not shirk from taking corrective action. The Modi government had to stay the course too: backtracking was unacceptable.

Jaishankar is far too seasoned a diplomat not to have got Blinken’s message. Members of Biden’s administration had expressed their discomfiture over the Modi government’s disregard for civil rights and liberties more than once in the past six months. The Pegasus revelations have only served to heighten that concern. So Jaishankar’s response to Blinken was anything but spontaneous. His response was chilling.

“…it is the moral obligation of all polities,” he responded, “to really right wrongs, when they have been done, including historically and many of the decisions and policies you’ve seen in last few years, fall in that category. …freedoms are important,” he elaborated, “We all value them, but never equate freedom with non-governance or lack of governance or poor governance. They are two completely different things.”

After seven years of Modi rule, it is not difficult to read between the lines of his response: the Modi government will continue to pay lip service to democracy but, as a sovereign nation, it had the right to decide why, when, and how it will curtail the rights and freedoms guaranteed to the people by India’s constitution. Jaishankar did not stop there but claimed further that this was not merely a constitutional, but a moral right, in short, a right that transcended those inscribed in the constitution because it came directly from some higher authority.

That is not going to happen. If there is anything to be learned from Blinken’s visit, it is that the era of the cloistered nation-state, which enshrined the absolute right of governments to deal with their people as they wished, has come to an end. The revolutions in transport and communication technology of the past half-century, and the mass migration of highly educated workers from the developing to the developed world, have made every government’s business a part of the business of its peers.

The US has shared its concerns in a diplomatic tone but the future of real relations depends on how India takes corrective actions and satisfies the US administration. The US needs India in this region, but also can not keep its eyes closed on gross violations in respect of democracy, freedom, justice, and human rights.

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2 Comments
  1. > “The US is really worried over the deterioration of democracy in India and poor records of human rights”

    .. wait .. ? .. when did the US have the capacity to become concerned about Human Rights except as a contrived illusion for propaganda purposes?

  2. samir sardana

    The Author says “The US wanted India to become a reliable, strong partner, which can protect American interests in the region.
    Does India have such a capacity or a will or intention?”

    INDIA IS A BANANA REPUBLIC,run by a dishwasher’s son,which is being used like a puppet and guinea pig,by the USA.The GOI could not protect their assets in Afghan and Iran – will these weasels stand up to PRC ?

    Taliban has doomed Chabahar and will use the Indian Roads to choke Kabul,get supplies and earn valuable toll revenue – via Zaranj,as a 1st point.What has India Built the infra for ? For PRC to evacuate the rare earths and minerals from Afghanistan ? The Afghans are seeking Indian help – but the weasels are still not send their Airforce,let alone send the army !

    The Indian weasels did the same with Najibullah – they let him be killed !

    On top of that,the PRC aid to Iran has completely destroyed Chabahar – as Indian aid is not required any more! What were the Indian weasels thinking ?

    The Indian weasels were played by Iran and the US.1st he Iranians signed the MOU with the Indian weasels – and the US gave the
    nod for the 2 berths at Shahid Besheti.The Indian fools thought that the Indian diplonats had conned the US ! Then the Indians were played by the Iranians,to sign the MOU for the Rail link to Zahadan – and again the US appeared to blink.Then again the Indian Duds signed a MOU,for the Chabharf SEZ.

    Iranians know that Indians are weasels and lapdogs of the US – who stopped the Oil imports,did not condemn the assasination of
    Qasim and the Mossad killings of Iranian N-Scientists in Iran ! They know the worth of the Indians ! Still they signed the MOUs !

    Y ?

    The Iranians KNEW that the Indian weasels will NOT build the rail line or start the SEZ – due to US sanctions ! WHICH FOOL WILL
    START A UNIT IN CHABHAR SEZ,IF THE US IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON THAT CORPORATE – EXCEPT CHAIWALA OF INDIA ?

    It was to get a lever to PRC to INVEST in IRAN ! The aim was to get the US + INDIA sanction,for Chabhar,and then use that as a warning bell to PRC,to get them to invest.THE IRANIAN PLAN TO USE THE PRC was ONLY TO KILL CHABHAR,as it was THREAT TO GWADAR,and it was an Indian INT listening post on Gwadar.dindooohindoo

    PRC is the natural ally of Iran – and with Bandar Abbas,in the Persian Gulf (and a UAE dispute),access to Iranian Ports for PRC,is
    the perfect hedge to Gwadar,and also,to optimise the costs of the North-South and Central Asian Corridors.Iran also needs to sell Oil in Yuan,with banking facilities from PRC – so that several nations in the world – can buy Iranian Oil and settle payments in Yuan and LCs.USD is the Achilles heel of Iran.

    Similarly,the Iranians sought equipments from India,for the 2 berths in Chabhar – which Iran cannot import,as they are expensive, and Iran has no USD,and no banker in US/EU will accept Iranian Bank LCs.So they wanted the Indian Duds,to buy the equipments and give the USD loans to Iranians,to buy the equipemnts !

    THE BEAUTY IS THAT THE 1O YEAR LEASE OF THE 2 BERTHS IN CHABAHAR TO INDIA,IS COMING TO AN END AND IRAN WILL GET ALL THE INDIAN INVESTMENTS FREE OF COST !

    The Iranians knew from Day 1 that Chabhar was doomed ! They used the stupid Indian Diplomats to con the US – albeit in the short term.CHAIWALA thought that he could sleep with Netanyahu,and still cut deals with the Persian Shias – this is the DNA of sons of dishwashers,surrounded by fools and sycophants ! Imagine the Utopian paradise in which the Chaiwala and his mandarin monkeys
    reside !

    The US could have said NO on Day 1 – but they did NOT !

    Y ?

    They wanted to show the Indian duds their place ! Just like Blinken came to India – and for the 1st time in decades,a US SOS excoriated the CHAIWALA’s record,on HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH – IN DELHI ! AND THEN HE GENTLY REMINDED THE INDIAN LAPDOGS – TO FALL IN LINE,AS FAR THE ANTI-CHINA COALITION GOES !

    NET RESULT – INDIANS ARE DOOMED IN PERSIA,AFGHANISTAN,LANKA ,MYANMAR AND PAKISTAN.THE ONLY NATION LEFT IS BANGLADESH !

    JUST LIKE THE INDIANS INVESTED MONEY TO EXPLORE A GAS FIELD IN the IRAN ,AND THEN IRAN KICKED OUT ONGC (AFTER HITTING THE GAS JACKPOT) !

    PEOPLE SAY Y ? Y ARE THESE INDIANS DUDS – BUT STILL SUPREMELY CONFIDENT OF THEIR DIVINITY ?

    I present the words of Al Beruni

    The Hindus believe that there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no kings like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs. They are haughty, foolishly vain, self-conceited, and stolid.

    PEOPLE SAY HOW COULD THE IRANIANS HAVE MADE SUCH AN ASS OF THE INDIANS ? The Persians know the Indians from the time of Cyrus !

    The wisdom of the “children of Cyrus,Darius and Xerxes”,encapsulates the “transcendence of Human thought”, the “Deuterosis of the Dindoo”, as under:

    A “Persian dictionary”,titled “Lughet-e-Kishwari”,published in Lucknow in 1964,gives the meaning of the word Hindu as “chore [thief], dakoo [dacoit], raahzan [waylayer], and ghulam [slave].

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