The Hindu Business Line : Seeing India in a new light

From being seen as a basket case, India is today viewed in the US as a vibrant democracy with a booming economy. American companies are looking to replicate the IT success in other areas. Yet, politically, many things remain unchanged, with sections in the US still unwilling to ease up on nuclear sanctions even as Washington deals more leniently with proliferating China and Pakistan, says G. Parthasarathy.

LOCATED IN the heart of Washington DC, the Indian Embassy is an impressive building, now adorned with a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, just opposite its entrance. The statue, built with special approval accorded by US Congress, is a tribute by America's people to India's Apostle of peace and non-violence.

Visiting the Embassy last week, I could not help noticing how much perceptions about India have changed in the United States, since I worked in the Embassy a quarter of a century ago, as Political Counsellor with two distinguished Ambassadors, Nani Palkhivala and K. R. Narayanan.

Twenty-five years ago the Indians one generally saw in Washington were Embassy and World Bank employees and taxi drivers. India was then seen as an economic basket case dependent on the World Bank and the IMF for economic survival and on Soviet weapons for its security. Indians were generally spoken to condescendingly.

Today, Americans view India as a vibrant democracy with a booming economy. India manages such disasters as the tsunami and earthquakes, without demeaning itself by seeking foreign aid. The two million strong American Indian community is respected as a group of high achievers.

Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai are virtually household names, as tech savvy and industrious Indians in these cities interact daily with Americans in activities ranging from the management of American corporate accounts to online systems' repairs.

The Indian `support'

When my Internet connection in San Francisco failed, a young engineer from Chennai quickly set the problem right. American corporations recognise that their global competitiveness is bolstered by Indian support, both in office management and in research and development. If China is seen as the industrial powerhouse of the future, India is seen as a knowledge economy that complements American technological advances.

But concerns about outsourcing to India causing increasing unemployment remain. I had the opportunity for a candid exchange of views with American academics, officials and legislators on a wide range of issues last week in Washington. The visit was particularly enjoyable, as it was undertaken with some very articulate, knowledgeable and young Members of Parliament — Suresh Prabhu, B. J. Panda, Sachin Pilot, Salim Shervani and Ashwani Kumar.

The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, is highly respected in America for his integrity and commitment to economic reform. His visit to the US and the July 18 statement signed with the US President, Mr George Bush, provide the framework for wide-ranging economic cooperation in such crucial areas as agriculture, energy and space. American cooperation is important if our agriculture sector is to move beyond the Green Revolution of the 1960s to value added and exported oriented areas.

In a very persuasive presentation, one of the members of the Indian side at the Aspen-CII Strategic Dialogue, Mr Harpal Singh, Director, Ranbaxy Laboratories, noted that by 2020 the US would be spending over 20 per cent of its GDP on health-care — an unaffordable amount even for an economy as strong as that of the US. The possibility of collaboration in health-care that would involve hospitals and laboratories in India undertaking work now being done exclusively in the US, would substantially reduce America's healthcare costs and improve healthcare facilities in India.

New collaborations

The potential for collaboration in this sector is so vast that it could produce mutual benefits akin to those provided by Information Technology today. Similar structures involving our Institutes of Technology and Management could open new vistas of cooperation in education. These should be major issues when Mr Bush visits India towards the end of February 2006.

The 2001 CIA report, titled "Global Trends 2015," held that India's economy would continue to grow vibrantly. The report also held that while there would be increasing economic inter-dependence and integration between India and its South Asian neighbours such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, these countries would be politically turbulent. There is concern in Washington that radical elements are gaining increasing influence and control in Bangladesh and that King Mahendra seems to be unwilling to acknowledge the extent of discontent and Maoist influence in Nepal. The Bush Administration realises the importance of working with India in dealing with these issues.

Americans continue to believe that Gen Pervez Musharraf is their best bet in Pakistan. They are reluctant to openly acknowledge that it is the military establishment in Pakistan that is responsible for terrorist violence in both Afghanistan and India, despite extensive evidence of the ISI-supported terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan. Managing these differences with the US is going to be a continuous challenge. At the same time Washington needs to be advised frankly that "bright ideas" such as "demilitarisation" and dividing J&K into "autonomous regions" on religious lines, floated by Gen Musharraf and the Hurriyat Conference Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, are non-starters.

The US now recognises the importance of India's role in its entire Indian Ocean neighbourhood. Hence, the growing interest in India's ties with Asean, its East Asian neighbours and the Persian Gulf and Central Asian Regions. There is concern in the US about China's growing economic and military muscle, arising from apprehensions that an increasingly jingoistic China may well seek hegemony in Asia. While there is no desire to either confront or contain China, discussions in Washington revealed a growing recognition of India's importance in promoting a stable balance of power in Asia.

Showdown with Iran

Virtually everyone in the US appears to be preparing for a showdown with the Iranian President, Mr Mahmoud Ahmedinejad. The Iranian leader's pronouncements about "wiping out" Israel have caused universal outrage. American analysts believe that by taking extremist positions, the young Iranian President is seeking to assert his role over that of Ayatollah Khameini and the former President, Mr Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. India has little choice, but to support moves by the US and the European Union, perhaps backed by Russia, to get Iran to adopt a responsible approach to nuclear and regional issues.

The July 18 Washington Declaration envisages measures to be taken by India and the US for American and international sanctions on our nuclear programme to end. While Mr Bush is committed to this deal, influential groups led by former Clinton Administration officials such as Strobe Talbot and an entire tribe of the "Grand Ayatollahs" of non-proliferation in the US are mounting a determined and no-holds-barred campaign to scuttle the deal, by placing unacceptable conditions on India. The non-proliferation Ayatollahs and former Clinton Advisers complement China, in seeking to "cap and roll back" India's nuclear weapons programme.

US double-standards

Unfortunately, the American establishment undermines its credibility when it adopts double standards in dealing with nuclear and missile proliferation by China and Pakistan. Under the Agreement, India has the responsibility for "identifying and separating civilian and military nuclear facilities and programmes in a phased manner and filing a Declaration regarding its civilian facilities with the IAEA." India has also to sign an "Additional Protocol" with the IAEA, while placing its civilian nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.

India will, however, have to keep an adequate number of facilities for military uses. Under no circumstances should it compromise in developing a substantial and survivable nuclear arsenal that constitutes a "credible" nuclear deterrent. New Delhi should, nevertheless, formulate a credible plan for separation of its civilian and nuclear facilities.

There appears to be little possibility that legislation to amend the US Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978 to enable implementation of the July 18 nuclear deal will be passed by the US Congress before the forthcoming visit of Mr Bush to India. But the visit would have a positive impact, if the Bush Administration presents its proposals for enabling legislation to the US Congress, before the President embarks on his visit to India.

(The author is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan.)