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Showing posts with the label India- America Relations

America's future will be defined with India and Israel

Image credits- VOA A new world order is coming into being. Old alliances and friendships are falling and new alliances are coming through that shall change the future. Much as the world is concentrating on China, it is from India that the future alliances shall shape up. America should take the initiative and create a new world order in alliance with India and Israel. National Interest looks deep into the subject in this detailed article. ( The entire article can be read here )

America and India: Aligned but not Allied ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Uma Parameswaran)

Credits- Flickr/ MEA India Source- The National Interest Author- Uma Purushothaman Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US last week imparted new energy into the Indo-US relationship with consolidation of relations in areas such as nuclear, defense, clean energy and counter terrorism. However, with no great breakthroughs announced, much was also left unsaid. First, let's look at what was accomplished. Defense ties were significantly augmented. The elevation by the US of India to a 'major defense partner' means that like US allies, India is now eligible to receive more advanced and sensitive technology, including dual use technology, from the US even though the defense relationship will remain primarily a commercial buyer-seller relationship. America’s refusal to export dual use technology to India has long been a sore point with Indian policy makers. Of all the areas in which the US and India have cooperated in the last decade, defense h

India Would Win with Trump ( Source- The National Interest / Author- Abhijnan Rej)

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Jasper Rautell Balle Source- The National Interest Author- Abhijnan Rej Last week an enterprising, and unknown, far-right outfit in New Delhi performed a traditional Hindu puja, literally praying for a Donald Trump presidency. The Washington Post took this to mean that Trump has fans in India despite his tasteless rants about outsourcing. Britain’s Guardian quoted the fringe leader behind the religious ceremony describing Trump as “our hero.” The Hindu right’s Islamophobia is one that The Donald surely shares. They too, like Trump, are keen on restoring some putative long-lost national glory. But a far more sophisticated argument, beyond the trope of Islamic terrorism, can be made about the desirability of a Trump presidency for India. Simply put, the accession of Donald Trump to the White House offers India greater strategic space. It reduces the chances of India becoming collateral damage in American interventionism. A retrenched

How Russia, China, and IS Have Made the US Popular Again ( Source- The Diplomat / Authors- Rob Spalding & Adam Lowther)

Image source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- White House, Pete Souza Source- The Diplomat Authors- Rob Spalding & Adam Lowther  In July 2014, Salon, the online magazine, loudly proclaimed that “the American century is over.” They were not the first to do so – numerous books and articles had made similar claims over the preceding years. Their arguments boiled down to this: America will continue as a world power, but not the dominant world power. In short, American power is declining while the power of states like China, Brazil, and India are rising. This growing chorus of “America is in decline” has spawned a vigorous debate on both sides of the political aisle, with little agreement. While pundits may continue to debate the issue, Americans are left to wonder, is American power truly in decline? As if sensing that the end is near, many Americans see a nation beset by economic, military, and political challenges and can’t help but think there might be some truth to th

The U.S. Presidential Race: Hillary and India ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Alyssa Ayres)

Image Source- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Department of State Source- The Diplomat Author- Alyssa Ayres This post is the first of a series looking at how India and South Asia will feature in the American presidential election of 2016. Hillary Clinton’s April 12, 2015 presidential campaign launch kicked the U.S. presidential race for 2016 into higher gear. It’s also the first American campaign announcement to garner significant media attention in India. Due to her long history with India—as first lady, a senator, and secretary of state—Clinton is a known quantity in the region and has a clearly articulated policy record on South Asia, unlike other presidential candidates. One Indian paper covered her campaign launch with the headline, “Hillary hearts India.” That background makes it easier to assess how a possible Clinton administration might approach ties with India. First and foremost, she sees India as a crucial part of U.S. strategy in a world inc

How the US and India Can Collaborate in Afghanistan ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Jack detsch)

Image credits- Flickr/ MEA Official gallery, Government of India Source- The Diplomat Author- Jack Detsch Though President Obama has pledged to keep 12,000 American troops in Afghanistan through the end of the year, it’s no secret that the White House’s focus on the war-torn country is waning. When those troops, largely still in place to train and equip the fledging Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and Afghan National Army (ANA), finally depart the country, Kabul will need a new patron to guarantee its security. Who will step up? A new policy innovation memo authored by Alyssa Ayres, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations reframes that question as a conversation. For Ayres, Washington must work with Delhi to stabilize Afghanistan’s fragile economy, military, and institutions while doing as much as possible to quell Pakistani anxieties. Can that approach succeed? It depends on where you look. On Thursday, a green

Why Washington Is Watching Modi's Moves in the Indian Ocean ( Source- The Diplomat / Author- Jhinuk Chowdhury)

INS Mysore -D60 ( Image credits- Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Jhinuk Chowdhury If you believe the hype, India is intensifying its ocean diplomacy to counter the growing influence of China in the Indian Ocean. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-nation visit to Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and Mauritius in March has been seen in this light. But that doesn’t explain what’s really happening. The power tectonics in the region are not between India and China, but are a result of Beijing hedging against Washington’s presence in the region. In the Indian Ocean, Delhi is increasingly aligning with the role that the U.S. wants it to play — that of a “net security provider.” The Indian Ocean bears two-thirds of the world’s oil shipments, one-third of its bulk cargo, and half of its container traffic, and serves as a key trade route between East Asia and Europe. Both the U.S. and China have high commercial stakes here. While the U.S. hopes to secure its trade routes

Wake Up, America: China Is a Real Threat ( Source- The National Interest, Author- James Jay Carafano)

Image credits- Xinhua News Agency Source- The National Interest Author- James Jay Carafano Between complacency and confrontation there is a responsible way forward that keeps the Asia-Pacific a big enough place to accommodate the vital interests of both Beijing and Washington. The heavy lifting will have to be done by the United States. That's okay. The work will make America a stronger nation and a better Asian ally. In the last decade, the Chinese regime has shown itself to be anti-democratic, no friend of free markets, a first-class cyber bully and more interested in rewriting or ignoring international norms than in respecting them. Left unchecked, the Beijing method of managing international relations is not likely to make the world a better or safer place. If America didn't share the same neighborhood with China, it might well ignore Beijing's behavior and let others deal with it. But China and the United States are stuck with each other. Unfo

US-India Cooperation on Naval Aviation: Game Changer? ( Source- The Diplomat, Author- Robert Farley)

Malabar Exercises 2014 ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons, United States Navy / Author- Mass Communication Specialist Alonzo M. Archer) Source- The Diplomat Author- Robert Farley One of the potentially most interesting developments to emerge from President Obama’s recent trip to India was news that the United States and India have decided to embark on cooperative efforts with respect to naval aviation.  Of course, India and the United States already enjoy some degree of collaboration, as the U.S. has assisted the Indian Navy with pilot training and deck management for several years. Still, the open discussion of this relationship implies a more expansive, longer-term cooperative framework than has previous been clear. India has taken a much different road with its carrier force than the United States. It’s current carriers are transplants from the United Kingdom and Russia, albeit with significant modification.  Instead of pursuing a common design for its three carrie

BUSINESS UNDERPINS INDIA-US DEFENCE DEAL – ANALYSIS ( Source- The Eurasia Review, Author- Sameer Patil)

Image credits- MEA Official Gallery Source- The Eurasia Review Author- Sameer Patil On January 25, India and the U.S. renewed their bilateral defence pact for 10 more years. The ‘2015 Framework for the U.S.-India Defense Relationship’ strengthens cooperation between the two countries in the areas of defence technology, military exchanges, and counter-terrorism.[1] For the first time, co-production and co-development are at the core of the defence engagement outlined in the framework, indicating the importance for India of technology transfers and indigenous manufacturing. The agreement makes India part of a group of nations that includes Japan, U.K., and Taiwan, with whom the U.S. cooperates on defence technology. Specifically, four pathfinder projects for co-production and co-development were identified through the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative of 2012, which serves as the guiding principles for the framework for cooperation. All the projects are experi

A Transformative Moment in Indo-US Ties? ( Source- The Diplomat, Author- Harsh V. Pant)

Image credits- Flickr / MEA Official gallery Source- The Diplomat Author- Harsh V. Pant Just a year back, the world’s largest and oldest democracies seemed on a collision course over the Khobragade affair. Today, thanks to deft diplomacy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his team, Washington and Delhi stand on the cusp of a potentially transformative moment in their bilateral ties. When Modi visited the U.S. in September, his domestic critics wanted to discredit him by asking where the substance was. They argued that Modi’s visit was about style; that the optics overpowered the real issues that were bedeviling the relationship. When Modi invited Obama as the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi, the critics came back arguing that there was little point to inviting Obama, who had become a lame-duck president with the defeat of the Democrats in November 2014 elections. But what Modi and Obama have been able to accomplish in the last two days underscor