and found out what official India thinks
Tim Dunlop writes
Last night I had an interesting conversation with a friend who works on Capitol Hill. He was recently part of a Congressional delegation that went to India. The delegation was mainly Republicans.
They spoke to a lot of Indian government people and the message from them was very clear, and in a nutshell it was this: We don’t much care about America. He said they were very polite but almost indifferent. Maybe matter-of-fact is a better description. The conversation went something like this:
We consider ourselves as in competition with China for leadership in the new century. That’s our focus and frankly, you have made it very difficult for us to deal with you. We find your approach to international affairs ridiculous. The invasion of Iraq was insane. You’ve encouraged the very things you say you were trying to fix – terrorism and instability. Your attitude to Iran is ridiculous. You need to engage with Iran. We are. We are bemused by your hypocrisy. You lecture the world about dealing with dictators and you deal with Pakistan. We are very sorry for your losses from the 9/11 terror attacks. Welcome to our world. You threaten us with sanctions for not signing the non-proliferation treaty, but you continue to be nuclear armed and to investigate new weapons. You expect us to neglect our own security because you want us to. We don’t care about sanctions.
They also spoke about economic development and the message here was that we’re doing fine thanks. We can’t address the poverty in our country wholesale–most of it is rural poverty anyway–but we find we have skills in the hi-tech area. We will continue to pursue that. We currently produce around 10,000 (I think, ed) science PhDs a year. We will build up a rich, well-educated strata.
Another thing he said that was mentioned a number of times was the relationship with Australia. They spoke of educational exchanges and the growing number of immigrants. Australia was thought of highly. [the road to surfdom via Chez Nadezdha’s MC MasterChef]
We can’t address the poverty in our country wholesale–most of it is rural poverty anyway–but we find we have skills in the hi-tech area. We will continue to pursue that.
It’s thinking like that that got the Congress Party elected.
Uh, is this indifference before or after nuclear technology India wants from the U.S., the F-16s, and the billions of USD in FDI? Seems like a slightly studied indifference.
Then again, all the things the unnamed Indian government officials were saying about U.S. foreign policy (Iraq, Iran) are true.
😉
What Iran, Iraq and Mynamar are not dictatorships?
“We consider ourselves as in competition with China for leadership in the new
century.”
20 years ago, India’s per capita income was higher than China’s. Today, China’s is more than twice as large. By almost any standard, China has been winning this race handily. Given that, wouldn’t it make sense to consider offers of help?
“We are bemused by your hypocrisy. You lecture the world about dealing with dictators and you deal with Pakistan.”
America feels the same way about India’s dealings with Iran. Both are based on cynical realpolitik.
“You threaten us with sanctions for not signing the non-proliferation treaty, but you continue to be nuclear armed and to investigate new weapons. You expect us to neglect our own security because you want us to.”
No one in the US seriously considers it possible to get India to give up its nuclear arsenal. And only a small number even really care to. And whereas the Democrats might pay a little attention to the nuclear weapons issue, the Republicans all but ignore it.
“They also spoke about economic development and the message here was that we’re doing fine thanks. We can’t address the poverty in our country wholesale–most of it is rural poverty anyway–but we find we have skills in the hi-tech area. We will continue to pursue that.”
A per capita GDP of $500 more than 50 years after independence suggests that everything isn’t fine. And while cultivating the IT and biotech industries makes sense, there’s no way that a country of more than a billion people will join the developed world without also industrializing the way that China is.
All of these comments sound like vintage Congress Party idiocy. The post-colonial persecution complex, the pompous moral grandstanding, the complete failure to understand the national interests of either your country or those of others. What a tragedy it was to have such navel-gazing imbeciles voted back into office.
You think the unnamed government people are from the Congress Party, Eric? I think they are most likely from the BJP – the reason the Congress Party scored such an electoral upset victory was that the rural population felt they were being ignored in the BJP’s master plan.
“You think the unnamed government people are from the Congress Party, Eric?”
Since they’re the ones running the government right now, I’d have to think so in the absence of information stating otherwise. Moreover, the pompous, condescending, yet mind-bogglingly naive and ignorant tone of the remarks felt straight out of the Nehru-Gandhi years.
“I think they are most likely from the BJP – the reason the Congress Party scored such an electoral upset victory was that the rural population felt they were being ignored in the BJP’s master plan.”
The Congress has more than its share of upper-crust elitists who shed crocodile tears for the poor but only care about obtaining their votes. The only difference between them and their BJP counterparts is that their faux-populism is directed towards the economic realm rather than the social.
Eric,
America’s time is over. The next century is mainly China’s and India’s in a multipolar world. The challenge is to have an equitable growth and bridge the rural/urban divide.
While America is busy with military adventures, US economy (currently bankrolled by Asian central banks) is in serious trouble. The Asian economies will lose some steam when the US faces its economic troubles, but the loss will be more painful for US, especially the citizens almost half of whome are in deep debt, thus susceptible to interest rate increase. Also painful will be the realization that there is no “hyperpower” in the world anymore: having tonnes of nuclear weapons does not mean much, as the Russians can tell.
Silas,
While this century will see the rise of China and India onto the global centrestage, it is not likely to come at the cost of the United States.
Beyond budget deficits and other military overextension, the greatest strength of the United States is in its system — a liberal democracy, based on attracting the world’s best talent, and the economic system that allows innovation to thrive.