Strengthening ties with the U.S. is
the only option
Relations between India and the
United States should not suffer in spite of the fact that Trump’s insistence on tough
sanctions against all those continuing to engage with Iran and Russia limits
India’s options on energy security and defence procurement. Nikki Haley, the U.S. envoy to the UN, told
India to “revise” its relationship with Iran. Added to this confrontation is
the U.S.’s tough policy on trade tariffs,
The Narendra Modi government has
come up with a phrase “strategic autonomy”, that has set at rest any doubt that
there is a reset in his foreign policy. India should not provoke the US by
coming too close to China, Russia and Iran. Let there be reasonable distance.
Otherwise these might trigger U.S. sanctions unless the two countries reach a
compromise.
The U.S. has traditionally applied
pressure on its allies to limit their engagement with countries it considers to
be threats to the international order. India must now decide how best to deal
with the U.S.
Trump's US which is isolating
itself from the rest of the world, even from its most trusted allies like
Canada, the UK, NATO, Japan and South Korea. To claim therefore that the
apparent decline in the relationship trajectory is unique to India and the US
is completely incorrect. There is practically nothing that India can do to
arrest the impression that the India-US relationship is getting derailed. Trump
and his US will hopefully learn very quickly, in the months ahead, that the
practice of international relationship and statecraft are much more nuanced
than this cowboy-like approach. However, the fundamentals between the two
nations are on a sounder footing and there are enough sane elements still left
in the Trump administration to steer the ship safely. We had similar hiccups in
the Obama administration too but they were overcome and that gives enough
confidence that the US knows better than to Push India over the precipice.
US-India are major defence partners
and there is tremendous scope for both to become future closest allies too. India
is strategically located, stable, sovereign, a great power in making and hence
a threat to other Asian powers.
It is true that Donald Trump is a
difficult customer and he is threatening America’s friends as well as
adversaries in the same breath. This is the time that India should be patient
in its dealing with US and act with rationale instead of adopting tit for tat
mechanism. Trump is not the eternal President of US and till the end of his
polity India can soft pedal unless there will be major policy contravention. Growing
antagonism with US is not good for India. In the midst of having strained
relationship with China a major power we ought to keep up good relation with US
as a safe-side strategy. Look and leap is the immediate need.
At the time when Russia is losing
its past powers and unreliable China is emerging as major power the best thing
for India to do is to join hands with the US. There is no other option.
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