The Hindu Business Line : Towards a partnership

Does the US want to control Indian foreign and economic policy in the long run? And does it to want to attain this objective by following the `strategic partnership' route, one of the vital aspects of which is the nuclear deal? These are important questions occupying the minds of Indian citizens, especially that section which is politically agile and brought up on a tradition of anti-imperialism.

Relying on past American practice and reputation, the fear that Washington has embarked on a long-term policy of hegemony and control over New Delhi is more or less instinctive, the economic rationalisation being that nothing would suit US interests better if it can get hold of Indian policy, especially when the Indian economy is in the ascendant. Well, this is what realpolitik is all about. The immediate goal is an increase in `state power' — and to those ideologically inclined, the ultimate spread of one's beliefs in the world at large. An evangelisation of sorts, leading to an expansion of the `common good'. The problem with the Americans is that, even on a matter so closely involving their long-term national interest, they don't seem to agree among themselves! One recent example is the debate over the nuclear deal. Some influential American Senators say they cannot trust India, their fear being that New Delhi will hijack the deal to strengthen its own nuclear arsenal. There are others, including the US Secretary of State, who have argued cogently that one way of preventing this from happening is to draw India into the vortex of Big Power politics by forging a `strategic partnership' with Delhi.

There are some who are against having a `strategic partnership' with Washington for reasons which stretch back into history. And there are others who would want to extract their pound of flesh (for the past misdeeds of the Americans) by engaging in such a partnership and using it for India's long-term benefit. One wonders which path is right, especially when the objective is the same.

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

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