US-India pact

[Dawn. August 7,2005]


THE US-India 10-year defence pact is a major development in current American foreign policy. The apparent purpose of the pact seems to be the containment of China. The by-products include a measure to sidetrack Indian collaboration with Iran on the gas pipeline issue. Of course, Indian cooperation itself will bolster US trade and ensure protection of US interests in the Indian Ocean, a counter-balance to the US denial of a seat to India in the UN Security Council.

Dr Manmohan Singh’s July 21 statement expressing new doubts regarding Indian participation in the gas pipeline project is seen by many as a step to placate Washington. Moreover, if India succumbs to US allurements and steps out of the gas pipeline project, it will be injuring the very foundations of Indian foreign policy — that of non-alliance and neutrality. Such an Indian step will also offend post-1979 Iran-India friendly relations like never before.

No doubt, the US-India pact has given way to a new Pakistani grievance toward the US, which may at some time in the future, if not now, lead to a slackening of the Pakistani onslaught on terror.