Indo-US Military Alliance: Our Independence Could be Bartered Away
10 Dec, 2001 · 658
Sreeram Sundar Chaulia argues against a Indo-US military alliance
Jawaharlal Nehru kept
India
out of military alliances with his sagacious and principled foreign policy. That mantra still holds good. Many Cold War allies of the
United States
–
Egypt
,
Indonesia
,
Saudi Arabia
,
Pakistan
and
Zaire
– are today unable to define their place in the world or maintain their national sovereignty. This is because the
US
has a track record of reducing its allies into puppets and then discarding them. American alliances come with expiry dates and the prospect of withdrawal symptoms. The proposition made to
India
for a “major military alliance” must be viewed against this hindsight.
Washington
and
New Delhi
throughout September and October [2001] over the modalities of this alliance, although the Prime Minister denied its existence. Has the Cabinet Committee for Security firmly rejected this idea? Has our decrepit National Security Council vetted the
US
proposal?
India
’s independence and stature in the world require that this alliance be rejected without equivocation.
Clinton
’s second term joint military exercises were planned before Pokhran intervened. Following
India
’s endorsement of the NMD, the suspension of military contacts since 1998 was done away with. General Henry Shelton visited
India
in July 2001 and the Defense Policy Group underwent a revival. The two sides are enhancing navy-to-navy cooperation to ensure free navigation through the
Indian Ocean
.
America
to propose a treaty-bound alliance? The answer lies in its desperate search for allies after September 11. The
US
has become wary of its current allies during its war against terrorism. US policymakers are mulling over the lukewarm support of the Arab world against Islamic jihad. Revelations of the close ties between Osama bin Laden and members of the Saudi oligarchy and the symbiotic relationship between
Pakistan
’s Intelligence and the Taliban have dented
Washington
’s confidence in existing relationships and set the tone for wooing
India
.
India
get from this entangling alliance? American bases, training facilities and an intelligence establishment could convert us into a semi-colony lacking voice and dignity on the world stage. Increased American infiltration of
India
will mean:
Kashmir
(the old
US
preference for Kashmiri “self-determination”).
India
to settle American scores in the region on the logic that “my ally’s enemy is my enemy”.
Moscow
, who fear
America
’s expansion into
Eurasia
.
Hints conveyed by the Defence Minister reveal that there was correspondence between
Admittedly, the main obstacle to Indo-US bilateral relations during the Cold War was divergence on national security issues, but there has been increasing convergence on these issues since the end of the Cold War. Military-to-military cooperation began from the 1991 ‘Kicklighter Initiative’. During
Why was it necessary for
What will
· meddling in
· usage of
· definite setback to Sino-Indian ties when both countries have common interests in the WTO.
· doubts in the minds of our friends in
· dependency of the Indian defence structure on the commercial adjuncts of the Pentagon, like Lockheed Martin & Co.