Emerging equations of Indo-US entente 

As ‘like poles’ repel each other, it has been quite so with India and the US, who have experienced repulsion over the last five decades ‘characterised more by disparity than parity’. And so Vivek Chadha, the author says ‘Indo-US relations have often bellied hopes and expectations, with reality playing truant repeatedly, notwithstanding…commonality of fundamentals’. Yes, the author considers Indo – US as ‘like poles’ on account of their colonial past; stand on imperialism, fascism, freedom and democracy, non-alignment. Vivek Chadha goes on to cut the Gordian knot into its very shreds for his readers to take stock of the enigmatic state of affairs. The last decade has witnessed a tailspin with an increased bonhomie and powwow forging the hitherto strained relations.

‘While both the US and India cherished the ideals of democracy’, the US shot up to be the de facto vanguard of global democracy and freedom in the early part of the twentieth century. But then the US turned overzealous jingoists to brandish democracy and heap American ideas upon others. ‘America as beacon and of America as crusader’ posed ambiguity as it set up democracy as a benchmark of American foreign policy. But for India, democracy remained an idea to be practised at home without making any overtures to impose it upon others.

Condolezza Rice had to concede – ‘I think it (India) is a natural friend for the United States’ but then in an appropriate perspective Manmohan Singh taking cognizance of past fifty years said,’…we must also recognize that this by itself does not ensure or guarantee a close relationship as is evident from the fact that India US relations have had their ups and downs in the past’.

It is natural for the intrepid readers to get inquisitive over the driving force behind this growing American interest in India. Vivek Chadha quenches all such veritable doubts over the emerging geopolitical contours and the faultlines getting effaced out.  India offers a lucrative export market for the US to the extent,  ‘one of the highest productivity in the world’. And also, India is an English speaking country ‘which enables it to seamlessly blend into the US business requirements…..a boon for the outsourcing business. India houses the third largest Muslim population in the world amidst other multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious and a throbbing democracy in tandem with the American socio-cultural scenario. India caters technically qualified manpower accelerating technological innovativeness to US business. And incredulous to believe but, ‘the two-million-strong Indian diaspora is not only the most affluent community in the US, with a per capita income of over 50 percent of the national average; it is also an influential bridge, which is beginning to bind both the countries together’. And so, ‘the US does not see India as a competitor in the decades to come; rather it sees India as the medium for retaining its competitiveness’. The common concern for ‘terrorism and proliferation of WMDs’ with India’s impeccable antecedent of non-proliferation proves a riveting factor. India is strategically placed with a rare geopolitical advantage ‘for the United States …to maintain a free flow of commerce through the primary sea-lines of the world’. India also espouses to remain stale and maintain hegemony of peace ‘in an otherwise volatile region’. India’s ‘vast UN operations’ showcase a redeeming feature for the US fervent interest.

  The author has aptly apellated one of the chapters as ‘drivers of the global matrix’. Therein he ‘maps out a nascent road’ out of the emerging world entente.  He goes on to discuss post cold war dynamics. The author asserts,’ while Asia is bound to be the economic hub of global trade in future, it is also the location for the most simmering disputes as well’. The author attributes the phenomenal rise of China as a decisive factor catalysing the world order –‘the American decision to exploit China against its rival USSR ……led to clear economic linkages… resulting in the growth of Chinese economy by an astounding 9% per year for the past 25 years’. Incredulously this growth is ‘almost twice as large as that of the next three biggest emerging economies, India, Brazil and Russia combined’.

I the chapter ‘West Asia’, the author points out the Indian concern and its perspective. ‘India has maintained trade and cultural relations with West Asia commencing 5000 years ago’. And now India’s energy security is heavily dependent on the region. Besides, ’the security of a large cross-section of India workers has kept India’s interest alive in the peace and stability of the region’ – India has over 3.5 million expatriates in the Persia Gulf region. Ultimately, ‘India’s relations with West Asian countries could have a dual impact given the improving relations with the United States’.

The book is a rare stockpile of confabulations and deliberations made thereupon to plough the mindscape of his readers. The author deserves kudos for poring over tomes of repertoire and cleaning the Aegean stale of confusion. He has succinctly posited the vignettes out of bureaucratic palavers. Thus the author has laid the tapestry depicting the emerging equation after mapping the contours of the coming era that ‘can in all fairness be termed a strategic relationship today’ and ‘has built its own momentum, which cuts across party lines in the US and in India too’. The book shatters tinpot rhetoric doing the rounds worldwide by splurging expositions upholding absolute perspicuity. The book-cover shows khadi wheel collaged with a spinning jenny while lions of Indian Ashok Stambh and a hawkish eagle maintaining vigilantes – to set the right tenor in the minds of his readers. Vivek Chadha has accentuated the spectacular topography for his readers to behold and cherish this curdling entente cordiale to feel elated of being an Indian with exuding weltanschauung of vaudhaiva kutumakam and having produced realpolitikers à la Kautilya stature.