4.23.2006

India: The New Darling of Conservatives

India has received increased attention from the US in recent years, especially under George W Bush. "Bush has been good for India," says C. Rajamohan, a political scientist at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. "More has happened between India and the US in the last four years than in the last 40." President Clinton made great efforts to improve relations with India and he remains wildly popular there. However, the State Department under Clinton regularly chided India about its nuclear program. The US also kept a wary eye on Indian efforts to fight separatist movements in Kashmir and the northeastern states, urging the Indian government to respect civil rights and such. Under Bush, many of these policies have been ignored and last month India was offered civilian nuclear technology, albeit subject to approval by the US Congress.

Historically, Indo-US relations have been affected by India's affinity to the non-aligned bloc and to the erstwhile Soviet Union, and by close relations between the US and India's arch rival Pakistan. Their oftentimes-frosty relationship started changing for the better with the end of the cold war; the liberalization of the Indian economy in the early nineties; and with the shift in Indian foreign policy from the Nehru-inspired doctrines that focussed heavily on the eastern-bloc and the developing world to a more national-interest based policy.

The Americans see in India a potential ally, an ally in the fight against terrorism, a genuine democracy in a rough neighborhood, and a counterweight to China. There are conservatives in Washington who believe that events in New York, Madrid, London, Beslan, West Bank, and Delhi are all connected, a part of the same struggle against Islamic terrorism, a struggle against Islam. India is a secular democracy, a country with its own struggles against Islamic extremism - and this makes it a natural ally for conservatives with an anti-Muslim bias. India’s democratic traditions and as of yet non-threatening economic power appeal to Sinophobes. "China clearly plays a big role in this. This deal (to supply nuclear technology) was basically put together by a small number of officials. Some of those officials are the neoconservatives who see China as a looming threat. For them, the problem isn't that India has nuclear weapons; it's that they don't have enough nuclear weapons. They want to encourage (India) as a nuclear ally against China," says Joseph Cirincione of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

India’s appeal is not confined to a few elite neocon policy wonks in the Bush White House. Visitors to conservative Web sites tend to be fascinated by India as well. A comment at one such Web site reads, "India and the US will be great and mighty allies against Islamic terrorism, Chinese Communism, and leftist multiculturalism. The beginning of this new era starts now." Another visitor finds comfort in India’s pro-American stance (as evidenced by a recent survey conducted using somewhat dubious methods) and uses this chance to vent against the anti-American, and therefore ungrateful, Europeans. "One of the primary reasons for anti-Americanism is the resentment of a dependent group on their provider. Europe depends on America for military protection, without which they would have to provide for their own military. They can't do this without giving up their socialized medicine, so the resentment builds."

"That was back when Europeans were never asked to do or contribute anything to deserve continued US protection. Years of American paternalism allowed Western Europe to believe it could afford the socialist welfare state without needing to sacrifice anything for its own defense (let alone that of others). The EU has over 130 million more people than the US, yet all of Europe contributes only 6000 troops in Afghanistan compared to America's 18,000. Socialism, made possible by 60 years of US protection courtesy of the US taxpayer, has spoiled Europeans with a sense of entitlement that has bred indolence and cowardice," writes another reader.

A well-armed India, according to the conservatives, would defend itself without any help from the United States (unlike the Europeans), and it would play an important role in containing the threat from the twin evils of Red China and Islamic extremism. John Hillen, assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, said sharing technology and information was particularly vital as Washington sought to build stronger military ties to India. "You cannot underestimate the strategic importance of what the president was trying to do in India. It shifts the geopolitical plates of the world in the most fundamental way since Nixon went to China," said Hillen. A defense industry executive, who also asked not to be named, underscored strong U.S. corporate interests in expanding trade with New Delhi, saying he had visited India three times in the past 90 days and would soon return.

India, especially under the BJP, has supported the US positions and policies on numerous occasions. Ashley Tellis of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace lists some of 'US-friendly' Indian actions, including enthusiastic support for Bush's Ballistic Missile Defence ('Star Wars') plans; silence over the abrogation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty, India's offer of military bases for the war in Afghanistan after 9/11; endorsement of the US position on climate change, including its latest avatar, the 'Asia-Pacific Partnership'; and of course, the September and February votes against Iran. To this list, Tellis, adds 30 India-US military exercises involving all three services, 50 high-level military conferences; $990 million worth of American arms imports; and India's budding relations with Israel.

Of course, the conservatives are far from being a monolithic when it comes to foreign policy. Isolationists, for example, are not very keen on cooperation with India or any other country for that matter. Economic protectionists seethe at the growth of outsourcing to India. But in general, India finds a favorable audience among conservatives. "It would be worthwhile to mention that the current goodwill towards India is not out of any sudden love for India, but the result of the perception of the "neocons" of the Bush administration that see alliance with India as a key to maintaining balance in this region, and also for checking the undesirable moves of Iran and China in the long run. The intolerance of any emerging power bloc capable of challenging the United States' interests and power in any region of the world has also encouraged the United States to develop good relations with India. The United States has not abandoned its policy of searching for such allies which could be helpful in promoting its interests," says Annapurna Nautiyal.

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