Pratap Bhanu Mehta on Modi’s US visit: Making of a high point

Source– The post is based on the article “Pratap Bhanu Mehta on Modi’s US visit: Making of a high point” published in “The Indian Express” on 21st June 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Bilateral groupings and agreements

Relevance – Issues related to India and US bilateral relationship

News – PM Modi is on a visit to the US.

What is the status of India and US bilateral relationship?

The most striking thing about the current moment is the sheer asymmetry of what the US is offering. It is offering high-end technology and co-production possibilities with a power that is not an ally.

The US wants a long-term partnership where India becomes important to US supply chains.

India is leveraging these relationships to create a manufacturing ecosystem.

The situation on the border with China is critical. India’s power projection capabilities have faced criticism. But the US is making efforts to strengthen Indian capability for countering China.

Why is the US accepting this asymmetrical relationship with India?

The US is being far-sighted in accepting the asymmetry in this relationship. This is a smartly pre-emptive move on the part of the US in two respects.

First, even at the low point of Indo-US relations, the US recognised that India’s stability is important for it. The US is already facing a hostile Russia, China and Iran.

Second, even the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and Israel, is slipping into potentially adversarial territory for the US. Europe is diverging from America’s approach to China.

In this context, if India moves away from the US, the current world order based on US supremacy will upend very quickly.

The US investment in India is not just because they have a common adversary in China. In the long run, the US will need to ensure India is not closer to any other power.

The US’s best investments have been when it has accepted these asymmetrical burdens. One of the examples is its relationship with Europe.

The second pre-emptive move is to bring India into the US military industrial complex. Keeping India out of that complex during the Cold War simply pushed it towards the USSR. But the US defence industry will also need the Indian market.

What is the enduring puzzle of international relations?

If China is really interested in challenging the US, it would have made peace with India. China’s less assertive behaviour on a border dispute with India is beneficial for it. It would have made America’s global standing even more vulnerable.