- 30 Jun 2005 03:00
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Is this a further double standard held by the U.S. -- India, Pakistan, and Israel can all illegally possess nuclear weapons, but official enemies cannot?
Financial Times
US and India hail ‘new era’ with defence pact
By Jo Johnson
Published: June 29 2005 19:26 | Last updated: June 29 2005 19:26
The signing of a 10-year defence pact between India and the US is the first formal upgrade to bilateral military ties since New Delhi tested nuclear weapons in 1998 and marks a new high in relations between the world's largest democracy and the most powerful one.
Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, declared the start of a “new era†in bilateral relations, a sentiment echoed by co-signatory Pranab Mukherjee, India's defence minister and de facto deputy-prime minister.
In theory, the pact will pave the way for joint weapons production, co-operation on missile defence and the possible lifting of US export controls on sensitive military technologies.
These are all longstanding demands of an Indian military that still has concerns over the “reliability†of the US as a military supplier because of Washington's perceived short-termism,ties to Pakistan and history of withholding spare parts from the Indian armedforces in times of crisis.
It is no coincidence that this agreement comes just as the Indian air force is debating whether to buy 126 US-made F-16 and F-18 fighters in a $4bn-$5bn overhaul that offers the best opportunity for the US to break into the Russian and French-dominated arms market in India.
The agreement specifies that one of its principal functions will be to “expand two-way defence trade between our countries†and sets up a joint defence procurement group to that end.
As with the rest of the “strategic partnership†the US is offering India, the “new defence framework†has left analysts in New Delhi divided. Ever since Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, visited India in March, the US State Department has talked up the Indo-US relationship in a diplomatic offensive many assume is driven largely by anxiety over the rise of China and a need for a defensive strategy of containment.
“The US relationship with India is of increased strategic importance to my country, and we are achieving a partnership between our two countries which is truly historic,†said Nicholas Burns, assistant US secretary of state, on a visit to New Delhi last week. “Developing a strategic partnership between the US and India is one of the highest priorities for our president. We see India as a rising power in the world, as a democratic power and as a friendly country.â€
The post-1947 years are littered with broken promises, however, and Indian policymakers are now trying to fathom whether there is any substance to the US rhetoric that it wants to “help†lift India into the ranks of the leading powers.
Bharat Kharnad of the Centre for Policy Research says the elite is split 70-30 between those who take US statements at face value, at the risk of turning India into a “client†of Washington, and those who hanker after an “impracticable†India-Russia-China axis.
The biggest test of US sincerity will come on July 18 when Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, travels to Washington for talks with President George W. Bush and to address a joint session of the houses of Congress.
Hopes are running high that Mr Singh will secure formal US support for India's bid for permanent membership of the UN Security Council, a privilege Mr Bush has hitherto reserved only for Japan.
In the absence of outright US support for India's bid for permanent membership, arguably New Delhi's most important diplomatic objective this year, frustration is likely to provoke more cynicism about fair-weather friends in Washington.
There is already a growing feeling that, for all the ardour of officials such as Mr Burns, India is being fobbed off with a second-class strategic partnership. Some argue there is little in Tuesday's defence pact for India to get excited about.
“All this does is formalise existing defence ties into an agreement,†argues Mr Kharnad, who claims India is still perceived in the US as a “meek, pushover of a state†that fails to be a factor in international affairs, except in so far as it can be enticed or bullied into supporting America's regional, security and commercial interests.
He characterises Washington's India policy as the “usual mixture of carrots and sticks and incentives and threatsâ€.
Mr Mukherjee, the first Indian defence minister to come to the US in many years, has used his visit to reiterate the government's refusal to be roped into any China-containment strategy, and its desire to work with, rather than against, the great powers of the day.
“A unipolar world is clearly not a sustainable proposition in the long run. India's vision of a multi-polar world is one of partnership among the nations,†he told an audience at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Financial Times
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