- Prelims: Current events of international importance(India-US relations), disputes with China(Mapping) etc
- Mains GS Paper II: Bilateral, regional and global grouping involving India, Significance of Indo-Pacific for India etc
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- The relationship between India and the United States is often traced from 25 years ago, when the U.S. imposed sanctions against India (and Pakistan) after they tested their nuclear weapons in May 1998.
INSIGHTS ON THE ISSUE
Context
India-US Relations:
- India-U.S. bilateral relations have developed into a “global strategic partnership.
- Relationship is based on:
- Shared democratic values
- Increasing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues.
Areas of Cooperation:
Background of relationship development between India and US:
- Clinton-Vajpayee-era: It gave impetus to summit-level diplomacy in the relationship
- The Manmohan-Bush and Manmohan-Obama relationship: It highlighted nuclear diplomacy
- Modi-Obama and Modi-Trump worked on trade and military diplomacy.
Recent developments:
- Technology diplomacy: The unprecedented new promise of Transfer of Technology (ToT) from the U.S.
- It was a result of the Memorandum of Understanding between General Electric (GE) Aerospace and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) “to produce fighter jet engines for the Indian Air Force”.
The civil nuclear deal
- In 1998, the U.S. imposed sanctions on India mandated by the Arms Export Control Act.
- The US signed a waiver to the sanctions on both India and Pakistan.
- The Bush administration’s push for civil nuclear exemptions, resulted in the India-U.S. Joint Statement in 2005.
- A waiver under the Non-Proliferation Act, the Henry Hyde Act and the 123 Agreement with India.
- It also led to an India-specific exemption at the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2008.
- The Obama visit to Delhi in 2010: Implementation of all the waivers of the previous decade.
- It was another set of exceptions for India on export controls and high technology trade
- Transfers under the U.S. Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The significance of these exceptions:
- NPT: They were made despite India never joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation (NPT) Treaty regime, nor did it sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
- These were “India-specific” waivers not available to other non-NPT countries such as Pakistan.
- They were crucial indicators of the shift in U.S. alignment in South Asia.
The Russian angle and exemptions for India:
- The U.S’s waivers(regulations dealing with Russia)such as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) of 2017.
- The Trump administration avoided sanctioning India for the (Russian S-400 missile system.
- It sanctioned Turkey and China for the same purchases.
- In 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “[Ro] Khanna amendment”: It would exempt India entirely from CAATSA sanctions.
- Russian war in Ukraine: The U.S. has ruled out secondary sanctions against India for its considerable oil imports or defense engagement from Russia.
- Sanctions were imposed on German entities for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
- The recommendations from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to place India on a list of “Countries of Particular Concern” which includes China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Myanmar.
- The State department has not complied.
What has been India’s stand to exceptions?
- India didn’t cut ties with the adversaries
- Not withdrawing from groupings such as the SCO, BRICS that pose a challenge to the U.S.-Europe world order
- No commitments to join U.S. military operations against them.
Why has the U.S. institutionalized a broad based waiver policy for India?
- Promise of ties with India:
- The world’s most populous nation, that has been an inclusive
- Pluralistic democracy for most of its history as a republic with a record in non-proliferation.
- India’s attractiveness as an economic market and a military buyer.
- India’s geography in Asia, and its boundary problems from China.
- It could make it a more dependable partner than European allies in providing a counter to China.
- Both US and India acknowledged the Indian-American diaspora, that has distinguished itself as a professional, law-abiding, prosperous and unproblematic community, and is the biggest votary of better India-U.S. ties.
Way Forward
- The biggest challenges to this relationship’s lie precisely in the mechanism used to strengthen it.
- The exceptions made for India, which can be reversed at any time.
- Former close partners of the U.S., such as Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and even China, today complain about the “fickleness” of American foreign policy towards them.
- Despite India’s growth story, the relationship remains largely one-directional on issues such as investment, hardware or technology transfer.
- It requires the U.S. to “give” and India to “take” more than the other way around, at a timetable decided by the U.S.
- The GE-HAL deal took more than 13 years after the U.S. had in principle cleared India’s access to high-tech transfers.
- The next big leaps in high-tech co-production, clean energy transitions, semiconductor technology, and Artificial Intelligence will also go on a case-by-case basis, at an unpredictable pace.
- The geopolitical context of ties, driven by a desire to counter China, or rein in Russia is also essentially an American construct, not one followed by India.
- India is a potential node in the diversification of supply chains.
- The US government is going out of its way to signal to the private sector to look at India seriously.
QUESTION FOR PRACTICE
The USA is facing an existential threat in the form of China, that is much more challenging than the erstwhile Soviet Union.” Explain.(UPSC 2021) (200 WORDS, 10 MARKS)
