Strengthening Indo US Strategic alliance

From November 23 to 27, Manmohan Singh went to Washington DC on a state visit. Prior to the visit, there was much speculation whether the current Obama government in the US would be as favourable to India as the earlier Republican Party administration of George Bush. Under Bush, the United States had strengthened the strategic alliance with the Indian state, which included getting recognition for India as a nuclear power by signing a nuclear deal with it. The Obama administration, on the other hand, had ruffled the feathers of the Indian state by, among other things, demanding recently that India sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Indian bourgeoisie has been aggressively and single mindedly pursuing the goal of becoming a world class imperialist power. Through its globalization, liberalization and privatization program, as well as its militarization program, it has emerged as an important player on the global arena through the savage exploitation of the land, labour and resources of our working class and people. It has been forging alliances with various imperialist powers, in its attempt to establish itself as an imperialist power with global, not just South Asian ambitions. In this context, since the end of the Cold War, it has worked to build a strategic alliance with the US. Successive US governments led by Bill Clinton and George Bush have also assiduously cultivated this alliance, to advance US interests in India, South Asia, as well as the rest of Asia. Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US was designed to show that the Obama Admistration will follow the same course pursued by previous US governments in developing this alliance.   

While much hype was attached on both sides to Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington, which was touted as the first state visit by a foreign leader under the Obama administration, the agreement on the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel which the Indian side had hoped for, did not materialise.  In particular, the US demand for its right to monitor India’s reprocessing of the spent fuel and for a limit to the number of reprocessing facilities in India, have proved to be hurdles.  Both sides said the differences were “minor” and would be sorted out in a short time, but the failure to come up with an agreement attracted much notice.

However, Obama insisted that he was committed to the nuclear agreement with India, and also flattered the Indian state by calling India “a nuclear power”, “a global power” and a “natural ally” of the US.  During the visit, agreements were also signed on the issues of education, climate change and cooperation in countering terrorism, among other things.

The Indian Prime Minister used the occasion of the visit to emphasise that India’s interest in Afghanistan and Pakistan must be taken care of by the US as part of the alliance. Manmohan Singh made two points on this question. One, that his government wanted Hamid Karzai, with whom India has developed close relations, to continue as President, and not be destabilized by the US. Two, that the US must step up armed intervention in Afghanistan, and India would back this. It must be noted  that there is opposition from the American people to the continued American intervention in Afghanistan, which has now completed 8 years. It has become clear that the US has not been able to crush the resistance of the Afghan people, and now the war has engulfed Pakistan. Within the US administration, there have been moves, supported by NATO allies, to sideline Karzai, and to strike a deal with a section of the Taliban, and this line is supported by the Pakistan state. The Indian state fears this move, as this will increase Pakistans influence in Afghanistan at India’s cost. India, it must be noted, has been a big player in Afghanistan in recent years in infrastructure projects, in training army and police, and using Afghanistan as a base against Pakistan.

At the end of Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington, it can be said that the strategic alliance between the US and Indian states is still on course, even while the US is not prepared to extend the benefits of “civil nuclear cooperation” to India without getting some major concessions on India’s part.  India on its part is holding out the carrot of shopping for the biggest arms purchases of aircraft for its armed forces valued at over 10 billion dollars. Significantly, Manmohan Singh followed his state visit to the US with a state visit to Russia, where he was received with great pomp. This was to emphasize that the strategic alliance of India with Russia was in place and US could ignore India’s concerns only at its own peril. India and Russia signed important agreement on nuclear supplies. Russia is also looking to be the seller of fighter aircraft to India, as also are other countries like France.

The Indian bourgeoisie is playing a dangerous game, in collusion and contention with various powere to advance its geo strategic interests. Working class must be wary of these games, and oppose the imperialist strategy of the ruling class.