No to Subservient Relations ; While Most Indians Want Better Ties with the Us They Will Not Tolerate a Submissive Foreign Policy

Summary

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Except for the Left parties and some fringe elements, most Indians want better relations with the US, abiding friendship and deeper and wider cooperation between the two countries. But even amongst those who want such relations, there are vital differences. There are some who want to get close to the US at any cost, give any concession, surrender on each and every point. They wholeheartedly support the Indo-US nuclear deal. Among them are corporate houses, big businessmen, people with close family ties, kins and friends in the large community of people of Indian origin living in the US. Let us not forget others who are fervently anti-Chinese, wary of Chinese economic growth and desirous of US support for India to take on China, give them a knock-out blow and overcome the humiliation caused by the Chinese aggression in 1962.

The vast majority of the urban middle class stands firmly for Indo-US friendship as between two sovereign equals. Obviously it is not that India is the equal of the US in every way. That is not possible. (For the last six decades, Pakistan has tried unsuccessfully and with disastrous consequences to be the equal of India in every respect.) Nevertheless, this majority will not tolerate a subservient relationship. The US administration is prone to asking for support for its international goals. The US has a global political and economic agenda. India is much more focused on South Asia, West Asia and South-East Asia (we are just beginning to take strategic interest in Central Asia and the Far East).

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No to Subservient Relations ; While Most Indians Want Better Ties with the Us They Will Not Tolerate a Submissive Foreign Policy

Even today there are sharp differences in the approach of the two countries towards Iran and Pakistan. For various reasons the US wants a regime change in Iran even if it leads to resorting to armed force. India, on the other hand, is keen to maintain its traditional relatio...

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