If the US Secretary of State Rex W. Tellersons speech at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington is anything to go by, American tilt towards India is now a fait accompli. In the twenty minutes of his speech Tellerson devoted just three sentences to Pakistan. And that too calling upon the country to to take decisive action against terrorist groups based within their own borders that threaten their own people and the broader region. He even stopped short of complimenting Pakistan for rescuing an American woman and her Canadian husband who had been held hostage for five years by Haqqani network in Afghanistan. Earlier, US president Donald Trump had been lavish in his praise for Islamabad over the rescue.
Tellerson was similarly sparing in his mention of China. He said China had risen alongside India but less responsibly and at times undermining the international, rules-based order even as countries like India operate within a framework that protects other nations sovereignty. He blamed China for provocative actions in South China sea which directly challenge the international law and norms that the United States and India both stand for. In an obvious reference to One Belt One Road, Tellerson said infrastructure projects financed by China in neighbouring countries brought few local jobs and saddled countries with enormous debt.
These observations must be music to Indian ears. For they announce to one and all, the new strategic alliance between India and US and more or less waning relationship with the cold war partner Pakistan – the recent warmth in the ties notwithstanding. For all its improvement in the recent weeks, the truth remains that the US has been forced to work with Pakistan more by compulsion than by choice. Washington no longer sees Pakistan as important for its strategic goals in South Asia.
It is important for the US to please India due to the latters growing geo-political profile as an international and regional player. America desperately needs to enlist India as an ally given its need to check the impending rise of China as a global power and a US rival on the world stage. China throws down gauntlet to US dominance of world affairs that is not only military and economic in nature but also ideological. China offers the world a system of national and international governance that is fundamentally opposed to the US-led order. This makes India, the worlds largest democracy, critically important to US. This bolsters US-led international order.
This makes for a compulsive strategic rationale for US-India closeness. There is an equally compelling transactional rationale too. India offers a vast market to US economy, so vital for the job creation in US. On the contrary, Pakistan remains important as long as it aids US goals in Afghanistan. And once that objective is served, Washington can once again be expected to turn its back on Islamabad and get more close to India. This state of affairs presages a new cold war like situation developing in the region, and this hardly bodes well for the peace and stability. Far from any progress towards the settlement of the long running disputes, these are likely to continue and worsen further. Such a situation calls for introspection in Kashmir too. We should know that in the evolving high stakes geopolitical game, Kashmir doesnt matter and its resolution takes a back seat.
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