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There is something about India and the US that will never be old to discuss or new to discover. For that matter even from a media perspective, India may hardly matter in the pages of the American media, especially for all the right reasons; but the craziness by which the Indian media covers an occasional American President’s visit is for all to see.
In ways more than one, Seema Sirohi’s account of the bilateral relations between the oft touted oldest democracy and the largest democracy is more than just an academic exercise adding one more scholarly addition to book shelves. It is a carefully documented account set against the backdrop of the so-called end of the Cold War to the dawning realities of the Indo-Pacific, South Asia in particular. And all written in a manner that is easy to read, and most of all, to understand.
Friends With Benefits
The India-US Story, is indeed a story of bewilderment, the first of which how a major power like the US could be so blind-sided to the realities on the ground. In fact, Sirohi takes a reader effortlessly through the pages of Democratic and Republican Presidents who tried to define and manage a new relationship that had all the trappings of political minefields in both countries. Sirohi indirectly answers a somewhat persistent query that went beyond academic chatter— were Republicans or Democrats good for India? The answer is neither. Any administration in Washington may have been paved with good intentions, but somewhere along the way could not wiggle itself out of entrenched thinking.
Fooled by the Generals
It is not as though successive administrations in Washington were incapable of looking beyond their nose when it came to Pakistan and its fomenting cross-border terrorism or simply being the epi-center of global terrorism. Time and again Washington allowed itself to be fooled by the Generals and the ISI in Islamabad that Pakistan is critical in the war on terror or for a settlement in Afghanistan; including the pathetic lament that was swallowed in the corridors of power in the US that Pakistan is a “victim” of terrorism. All these have been highlighted by Sirohi, from President Bill Clinton to President Donald Trump. And President Joseph Biden is not lagging too far behind.
Sirohi’s account is not one-sided. Just as how American Presidents had to wrestle between competing bureaucratic beliefs and turfs like the State Department, Pentagon, the National Security Council and the Central Intelligence Agency, Indian Prime Ministers too had their share of woes with coalition politics coming in the way as a chief concern especially during the times of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the US-India Civilian Nuclear Agreement. If the two sides were able to put away differences, Sirohi points out, much of it had to do with the two leaders of the time “taking charge” and putting their foot down.
And for all the initial reservations of a Donald Trump Presidency, it did not turn out too bad for either country, the mega galas in the two countries adding their part to atmospherics. In fact, President Trump, as Sirohi points out, did put fear in the civilians and brass hats of Pakistan when he lashed out against the country in a January 1, 2018, Tweet which made the point that some $33 billions had gone down the drain with Islamabad fooling American leaders. It is estimated that since 1947 some $70 billion of taxpayers’ money may have gone Pakistan’s way. But even Trump was made to, or perhaps even forced, to walk back. The money trail soon started.
In between the serious reading, there are narratives that are quite pertinent to the topic under discussion. For instance, there are small sections dealing with the role of the Indian American community who have now come to play a major political role in domestic American politics.
The Indian community’s role
It is not just a question of five Indian Americans’ representation in the House of Representatives but of the community playing the role of pressuring administrations to work in a particular direction or playing a major role, as, for example, during the civilian nuclear arrangement. Here again the author talks of the quiet role of community leaders in influencing members of Congress as opposed to those who were supposedly flaunting their “connections” for political positions down the line. The author correctly brings out the difficulties involved in the process, especially of the Indian Embassy and the community working at cross purposes and inadvertently at that.
The book draws not only upon valid documentation but also on the author’s personal interaction with players, of course some of which cannot be annotated for the record. The book is undoubtedly a welcome addition for those who have been a witness to the unfolding of events and also for all others who follow India and the US for whatever different reasons!
(The reviewer was a senior journalist in Washington DC for 14 years covering North America and the United Nations)
Check out the book on Amazon
Title: Friends with Benefits: The India-US Story
Author: Seema Sirohi
Publisher: HarperCollins India
Pages: 496
Price: ₹699
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