Indo-US nexus

India and the US have formally graduated their ties to the next orbit. This exaltation is an outcome of big economics amalgamation along with the inherent strategic objective of furthering their respective hegemonic ambitions in Asia. As President Joseph Biden hoped that the new nexus will “define the next century”, Indian PM Narendra Modi described it as one that will usher in a “new direction and new energy”. In this euphoric sentiment, what they ignored or brushed under the carpet is the simmering reality that India is home to human rights excesses and a perpetual sense of otherness, and the global superpower that professes values of civilisation and emancipation did great injustice by letting it pass for petty political interests.

The red-carpet feast at White House, however, was contested on the streets around in the capital with vehement protests. It was ironic that as Biden eulogised religious pluralism as a core principle in inter-state relations, he was non-committal on the crackdown over minorities in India, including the yoke of colonisation in IIOJK. This was quite unbecoming of its world leadership, and at the same time exposed the democratic credentials of India. Moreover, by repeating the mantra that Islamabad should ‘do more’ on cross-border terrorism, Washington was harping to the tune from India. The point that those words came in a joint statement issued by the two heads of state made it horrifying as to how myopic is the approach to the volatile region of South Asia.

India’s inking of big-ticket projects such as a deal with General Electric to make fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force, another $825 million investment in a new chip assembly plant in Gujarat, and two other deals that would allow India to purchase 30 MQ-9B ‘Reaper’ and 31 high-altitude long-endurance drones has cemented a decade of neo-World Order in Asia. This is primarily meant to woo Delhi against Beijing, and also to pitch it against Moscow, if need be. With India already part of QUAD, the US has played one-sided in retaining the tricky balance of power in the region.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2023.

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