India-US alliance Can Move Ahead Only On Basis Of Equality
By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar
India is neither a lackey of USA like Britain nor an ally like other NATO countries. India being the largest democracy by population will be a natural friend to USA the largest democracy by geographical size. However this friendship and cooperation can only fructify on basis of equality. This should be clearly understood by American politicians and the American Administration.
After years of improving relations between Washington and New Delhi, When the Indian prime minister and US president Donald Trump jointly appeared at an Indian-American political rally in Houston in September, it was a testament to the improving relationship. However as usual friction has now started to rise between the two as irritation have started developing once again due to age old American attitudes.
Every one thought that once-fraught US-India relations had been transformed. The two countries had steadily deepened their security and defence ties over the past decades. However the difference came out sooner than later. India thought that such cooperation will make the World a safer place for all, whereas the US looked at the cooperation with India as a strategic counterweight to China.
Such underhand tactics are simply not acceptable to India.
Then friction have also risen regarding trade and services. USA has own definition and ideas regarding trade and tariffs and India has its own. USA wants free movement of American goods to India but then will not allow free movement of Indian Services to USA. So naturally India will protect itself by increasing tariff barriers.
Next comes the American Politicians proclivity of trying to lecture India in its internal matter. The attitude of many American politicians and also many within the Administration over Kashmir is well known. Now they have also gone overboard in lecturing India on the newly passed Citizenship Amendment Bill. Some American politicians without even reading the Bill have termed it as divisive. They have blindly stated that it discriminates against the Muslims. And of all the things some idiots also talk about the restrictions over Internet in Kashmir.
Naturally the Indians will get highly irritated. We too can start lecturing the USA over its refusal to let in thousands of Mexicans into the USA. They should open their borders and permit free flow of poor Mexicans and other South Americans. Also if they are so bothered then they can take all the prosecuted Muslims from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and of course all the Rohingiyas ( they will be just a few millions ). India will not do so. For accepting prosecuted Muslims from these countries, we will have to first pass a bill nullifying the Indian Independence Act of 1947 passed by the vilest of the Parliament that ever existed in the history of mankind ….the British Parliament. Millions died due to passing of this Act.
Also they better not talk about restrictions on internet. The whole world has seen the paranoia displayed by the American Homeland Security just because two tall buildings came tumbling down due to some terrorist strike. Where as in India we have lost count of such terrorist strikes. Then using just one such terrorist strike, the American Forces have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq and have ever since been devastating these two countries on daily basis. Though when it comes to Indian Forces entering Pakistan then the same American politicians and Administration will start shouting foul.
Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, has now gone overboard and acted in the most partisan manner recently when he uttered that “the creeping Hinduisation of India risked creating a serious problem where little or none existed”. He added that India’s past success was partly due to its secular, democratic nature. Hass ji, should know that the Law he is talking about has been passed by the majority in the Indian Parliament. We Indians too can make thousands of such utterances over the various idiotic bills passed by the American Senate or the lower house and the fundings coming from America for propagation of religious activities by Christian Church in India.
So Hass must first devote his energy on protection of Blacks and other minorities in USA and also prevent shootings of its own citizens including Indians living there. He should refrain from commenting on the multiculturalism and other things in the Indian Society.
Fed up of the yelping chorus coming out of Washington New Delhi has also responded. The foreign ministry has given out lashed as deserved by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, which blindly criticised the new citizenship rules, saying the commission was “guided only by its prejudices and biases on a matter in which it clearly has little knowledge”.
Pramila Jayapal, an Indian-American congresswoman who has become a laughing stock all over India, is pushing a most idiotic resolution urging New Delhi to restore Kashmir’s internet services and free hundreds of Kashmiri political and civil society leaders who have been detained without charge since August. Why not pass a resolution over the functioning of the American Prisons including Abu Gharib and Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, which has shocked the entire world.She should also get a USA citizenship law modified which permits Iranian Minorities to become American citizen to also bestow on the Iranian Muslims the same privileges..
During a visit to Washington last month, S Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister had rightly cancelled a scheduled meeting with congressional leaders due to Ms Jayapal’s plan to attend, thus giving a right message to all the top Democrats.
Senator Bernie Sanders a Democratic presidential candidate, may keep posting on Facebook that “shutting out US lawmakers who are standing up for human rights is what we expect from authoritarian regimes — not from India”.
The Indian Government since 2014 has started taking steps to strengthen India. We have established economic policy changes in our interest. However some of them have hit large US ecommerce companies that invest in India in exploitative manner. New Delhi has also started insisting that the data gathered from Indian users by US tech companies should be stored in India only.
No matter what the American politicians keep thinking, India will always remain a beacon for other multi-ethnic democracies looking to balance democracy with diversity. After the Nixon fiasco during the 1971 Indo Pak War, the failure of Clinton’s Sanctions on India in 1998 after the Indian Nuclear Blasts and the recent cutting of CAATSA knot by India, USA must understand that in todays World they need India more than India needs USA. After All Asia is slowly but surely moving ahead to retain its glory enjoyed till early 16th Century.
