Daily Times

Ice berg ahead! The sailor shouted from the crow’s nest. It was late when the warning came. The deceptively concealed and seemingly benign ice berg tore across the hull of ship in such a manner that the people on-board never realised the damage which ultimately led the unsinkable to the bottom of the sea. While Theodore Ronald and seven of his musician companions played, the ship sank to the bottom of sea taking over a 1500 souls. In the recent months, Indian democracy is experiencing a similar suffering. The acclaimed centre of gravity for the country has been badly yet deliberately hit by the iceberg of discriminatory legislations which have institutionalized racial and religious segregation rupturing the hull of democratic values in India. Civil society is warning from the crow’s nest falling on deaf ears. Like H.M.S Titanic so massive that it was impossible to apply correction to its course at the very last moment. Sad to relate this which also stands true for India since due to a very large and diverse demography it is getting difficult to re-set a course social correction for India at a short notice.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah identified that India was not a country but a sub-continent inhabited by innumerable cultures and races. It is so big that it could remain unified and united for a very short time in history. Out of several thousand years in its history, it was only for few hundred years when entire India was under a unifying regime. For most of the time this sub-continent remained divided between various independent kingdoms and states ruled by numerous dynasties belonging to different cultures and civilizations. Due to this diversity, it was seldom possible to keep these bounded together under one unified rule for a long time. Thus it has always been understandably unnatural for India to remain a single country. The partition that occurred in 1947 was natural while hundreds of similar partitions had happened in India for thousands of years naturally. The country that got divided into three independent territories, somehow managed to keep the diverse cultures united in the concept of democracy which today is the only binding force for India. It has worked at least for last seven decades.

Indo-US relations are important both in geographical as well as in its geopolitical context. Although India remained important for Moscow as well as Washington, however India switched over from former to later in 1991 exploring the avenue through Tel Aviv

The recent decisions by Indian government and unprecedented centrifugal reactions across the length and breadth of India, has once again created an environment which makes India’s integration a major challenge. However, an integrated and unified India is a must to serve the interest of global powers in the region. United States has particular interest in India since it is “biggest strategic opportunity” for the US as declared by Washington.

Indo-US relations are important both in geographical as well as in its geopolitical context. Although India remained important for Moscow as well as Washington, however India switched over from former to later in 1991 exploring the avenue through Tel Aviv. Indo-US bilateral relations have been gradually taken upto level of a ‘global strategic partnership’. This partnership, although declared to be based on shared democratic values but in reality hinges upon the increasing convergence of US interests in regional and global issues. Washington does not mind if India remains committed to the core strategic principles of democracy till the time India agrees to play as its critical role in balancing the rise of Chinese power. Although India cannot dream about equating China or obtaining diplomatic, political or economic wherewithal to contain Beijing, but it can definitely act as a spoiler in overall context for the Chinese. Washington overtly declares its interest in India declaring that both the countries had enormous equities in promoting responsible international policies on the part of China. One can easily relate that US has made India a strategic partner against China as it had once engaged Pakistan against Russia in the Afghan war. The Pentagon has already renamed its oldest and largest military command to reflect the growing importance of the Indian Ocean. US strategic thinking in Indian Ocean is focused on countering China’s growing influence across the Asia-Pacific sphere. For Washington, containing China is as important as it was about containing Russia through Pakistan. However, the earlier cold war was a bipolar contest while presently the world politics is experiencing rise of multi-polar competition. This time Pakistan is a key partner for China in the region. Naturally it pinches both India and US.US despite having a long history of positive partnership with Pakistan, could not come to trust Islamabad and continues to demand more from Pakistan. Both US and India have lately started to use Kabul to put Islamabad under caution. Afghan allegations against Pakistan continue unabated despite the evident goodwill from Islamabad. However, both India and US does not realize that Pakistan has nothing to do with the simmering centrifugal and fissiparous under- currents that are going to erupt in years to come beyond.

The combination of largely overlapping US-Indian vital interests supersede the democratic values which Washington preaches and professes to the world. It is important for US to realize that if India continues with the anti-democratic legislations in the country, the naturally planned inevitable disintegration of the country will be expedited. It may come much earlier at an inconvenient time than it was to come naturally. Such a disintegration would not be in the favour of US. One may ponder that if US wants to pursue its long term objectives in the region, Washington has to intervene to enforce the democratic values which the constitution of India has promised with its people. Otherwise all the US objectives including those focused on keeping China contained, keeping a check on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons; ensuring that Afghanistan does not become a sanctuary to terrorists, all its plans will go down to the bottom of ocean. With an internationalize the ‘Kashmir issue’, global objections on violations of human rights and democratic values by Delhi, India would be as good as a dead mule to carry burden of US ambitions in the region. Both India as well as the US must register that promotion of democratic values and rejection of Hindu chauvinism is profoundly connected to the future of India as well as US interests in the region. Washington should realize that India cannot be left on path of self-destruction since it will definitely endanger peace and stability in the sub-continent.

Writer is a versatile analyst and a speaker on contemporary issues