Page 46 - 15OCT2018E

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

most powerful military in the world. terrents in the neighborhood. Rao pro-Chinese lobby within USA and sign the Communications Compatibili-
It helped Communist revolution in could not do it, which however was West that Washington should cede ty and Security Agreement (COMCASA)
China. During the seventies, USSR-Chi- done during the tenure of the Prime strategic space to Beijing in South which will enable India to access ad-
nese friendship had diluted, but now it Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on his Asia. It is being pointed that the Sino- vanced technologies from the US and
is resurfacing, this time being led by the advice and endorsed by the then Con- US close economic ties have already enhance India’s defense preparedness.
immense economic power of China. gress president Sonia Gandhi. prevented the Russian Federation to It has further been followed by the deci-
One need not be too nostalgic, but This is how contemporary his - reassert its super power status, but sion of USA to rename US Pacific Com-
some references are necessary that tory is made. No hype and hurrahs, economic revival accompanied by its mand to the US Indo-Pacific Command.
India during early years of freedom just a mutuality of interests be - growing military might is causing anxi- It may also be noted that Prime Minis-
was keen to retain an identity of a tween receptive minds. The high- ety in the West. The growing proximity ter Narendra Modi, kept a low-profile
non-aligned nation while keeping her profile visit to Pakistan and India of Turkey with the Russians has already about these high-level talks. Mike
ties with the British Commonwealth. should be understood. Rao’s visit to disrupted the fragile power balance Pompeo and James Mattis Thursday
However, during the early fifties USA the US was entirely in keeping with in the region. The reaffirmation of briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi
liberally funded Pakistan under the the subtle but significant change in Sino-Russian ties may lead to the fi- on the first 2+2 dialogue held between
pretext of containing Communism. Indo-US relations, which have qui- nal eclipse of the West in Asia. In this the two countries.”The prime minister
It forced India to be intimate with the etly brought a sea-change in the south power game, the USA is naturally keen fondly recalled his interactions with
USSR, both in the international politics Asian region. Many may not like to that the conflict between India and Pa- President Trump and requested the
as well as for its defense supplies. compare it with the secret visit of kistan should not go beyond rhetoric. secretaries to convey his greetings to
India under Indira Gandhi signed President Richard Nixon in seventies, A conflict is going to hurt the strategic him,” a brief statement from the Prime
Friendship and Cooperation Treaty which scripted a new strategic alli- interests of the West led by USA. In this Minister’s Office stated.
with USSR on August 9, 1971, just a few ance in the South-Asian region. About context, the Chinese initiative of One The media, both in India and
months before the Bangladesh War. It half-a-century has passed, when the Belt and One Road has causes much Pakistan, have missed the theme
was a security treaty, which deterred then Henry Kissinger, National Se - suspicion. of this high-level visit that before
both China and USA to intervene dur- curity Adviser to Nixon, has secretly India is a first non-NATO country to having a formal agreement with
ing the conflict. The treaty was ini -
tially signed for 20 years and could be
renewed for next 20 years. However, India on the new strategic rela -
Moscow under Boris Yeltsin signed a The US has ensured tionship. While Pakistani media
new treaty in 1991 deleting the cooper- that substantive appears to jealous of the Indo-US ties,
ation clause in wake of armed conflict Indian media plays up as yet another
or war. It could be attributed to the new discussion takes example of USA’s growing enchant-
efforts of the Russians to patch-up place with Khan, ment with Pakistan. The truth, perhaps,
with West. However, it orphaned is that the high-level US team took the
India without any support of a World his lieutenants and Pakistani army and Imran Khan, into
Power both in the UN as well as in case army chief before confidence before signing the new
of conflict. alignment with India. It may never be
During the tenure of Prime Min- new strategic stated officially, but the reluctance of
ister P.V. Narsimha Rao (1991-96), initiative is the official reaction of the Pakistani es-
a sound foundation of Indo-US tablishment on this Indo-US strategic
relationship was quietly made quite cemented ties, could be interpreted that how deep
away from the media noises. Strobe the assertive US message has perco-
Talbott, deputy secretary of state, ad- with India lated down.
equately briefed Rao before he met the It will depend upon the Pakistanis to
then US President Bill Clinton. Accord- use their Chinese proximity for peace.
ing to some well-known sources in the visited Beijing via Pakistan to lay the Meanwhile, India and USA have decid-
PMO, Rao postponed the Prithvi test foundation of a new initiative against ed to carry out, for the first time, a tri-
to show India’s conciliatory gestures. the then USSR. It has enabled China Services joint exercise with the United
However, Rao shared his apprehen- to assert its economic, scientific and States off the eastern coast of India in
sions about the Chinese aggressive military strength on the chess board 2019. Maybe, yet another attempt to
postures on India’s northern borders. of the 21st. century power game. The further enhance their synergies in this
He also told the US leadership that In- emboldened Chinese have alarmed strategic area. Indeed, it is a tight rope
dia is now being sandwiched between the West, thus opening an opportu- walk for Imran Khan, a cricket-turned
two nuclear states, China and Pakistan. nity for India to assert her legitimate politician.
Rao was advised to detonate nuclear position in the world scenario.
device too to balance the nuclear de- It also rejects the assertion of the LETTERS@TEHELKA.COM

TEHELKA / 15 OCTOBER 2018 46 WWW.TEHELKA.COM WWW.TEHELKA.COM

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