{"id":37047,"date":"2012-04-03T22:09:59","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T22:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=37047"},"modified":"2012-04-04T21:45:37","modified_gmt":"2012-04-04T21:45:37","slug":"indian-foreign-policy-us-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/indian-foreign-policy-us-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Indian Foreign Policy, US Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0C P Bhambhri –<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Prof. C P Bhambhri<\/p><\/div>\n

The real significance of this study lies in the fact that current American foreign and strategic policy concerns are fully articulated by William H Avery, who is not only a former diplomat but also belongs to an elite think thank that plays a crucial role in shaping America\u2019s global strategies.<\/p>\n

Avery establishes in nine extremely well-written chapters that America and India have a mutual interest in forging a \u201cspecial relationship\u201d to deal with the security challenges of the 21st century. \u201cIt should \u2026 be a leading objective of the American and Indian governments that their fraternal association be fully in place by 2020. That is the best way for the people of both nations to prevail in mankind\u2019s brutal and, also, never-ending struggle for freedom,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n

During the 18th century, he says, India\u2019s stage of development was comparable to the European countries\u2019. Under-development set in during the long period of colonisation because productive systems were subordinated to the needs of the industrialising colonisers.<\/p>\n

The growth story begins after colonial rule. The post-Independence narrative is divided into two periods: 1947 to 1991 and 1991 to 2011. It was only when the Narashima Rao-Manmohan Singh team broke with the model of economic planning and \u201copened\u201d the economy in 1991 that India arrived on the international stage with faster growth and globally recognised technical talent.<\/p>\n

This is a familiar story relayed by many Indian and foreign analysts; only the author does not accept that the 1947-1991 phase was a \u201cdark age\u201d for India. As he observes, \u201cwhen the License Raj was dismantled after 1991, India enjoyed the best of both worlds. A large number of healthy companies that had grown to critical mass under government largesse, mixed with an open system that fostered free competition, and allowed dynamic new entrants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avery has painstakingly worked to substantiate the fact that post-1991 achievements were the result of strong industrial and technological base laid down in the 1947-1991 phase, the idea being to lead up to the question of how an emerging power could be oblivious to its own security concerns. With some prescience, in the light of the current controversy in the defence establishment, he says, \u201cIndia\u2019s armed forces and its foreign service are underfunded and inadequate to the needs of a regional power\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to bridge the deficit? First, \u201cit will need a second army, staffed by the Indian multinationals of tomorrow\u201d. This is essential to mark India\u2019s economic presence in Africa, Latin America, even Europe. India should be noticed as an emerging economic power and a global player. Second, India \u201cmust abandon its decade-old timidity in foreign affairs and invest in defence and, where necessary, shed blood to prevent emerging threats\u201d.<\/p>\n

Avery may be right when he says model state systems cannot avoid \u201csecurity threats from other countries\u201d. But his identification of China as India\u2019s major adversary is problematic, to say the least. He says that China is extending its foothold in Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Pakistan to limit the power of confrontation, even postures of threat from India. He has painted an alarmist picture by saying Sri Lanka\u2019s Hambantota port is part of China\u2019s larger geopolitical strategy to encircle the only country that can threaten its complete dominance of Asia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The author bemoans that \u201cIndia, by contrast, does not have a geopolitical strategy. It has, at best, a regional strategy. That strategy \u2026 could be summarised as \u2018keep Pakistan and China at bay\u2019\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n

How should India go about attaining its grand global goals? \u201cBuilding stronger defence ties with the United States (and its allies) is the only way for India to create the defence industry it needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

He draws attention to the threat posed by terrorism as dramatised in Mumbai on November 26, 2008 and America\u2019s war against terrorism after September 11, 2001 and concludes that those incidents make India and America partners for sharing intelligence against terrorism.<\/p>\n

Avery suffers the same disease that policy study experts suffer when they act as self-appointed \u201cfriends\u201d of policy makers. India needs, according to Avery, America\u2019s help because it has inadequate equipment to collect intelligence and America is well-placed in global intelligence-gathering gadgets and spies. The American author wants to make India the mirror image of America, which is highly militarised because of its threat perceptions.<\/p>\n

This approach is full of pitfalls. If India treats China and Pakistan as its biggest enemies, and is prepared for military solutions, the need for diplomacy is redundant. But India\u2019s diplomatic approaches in finding solutions to disputes with China or Pakistan are much more meaningful than getting involved in mindless arms race. America should not be a role model for India; many political parties may be concerned about security but do not support militaristic and jingoistic foreign and defence policies.<\/p>\n

India and China are competitors in Asia, but contrary to Avery\u2019s diagnosis, these two large Asian neighbours cannot play the role of destabilisers. Their own interests would be hurt if an Asian cold war breaks out.<\/p>\n

Business\u00a0Standard\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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