GS2 PYQ 2019 (Mains Answer Writing): India-US global partnership | UPSC Mains: International Relations PDF Download

What introduces friction into the ties between India and the United States is that Washington is still unable to find for India a position in its global strategy, which would satisfy India's national self-esteem and ambitions'. Explain with suitable examples (UPSC GS2 2019)

The major shift in India’s relationship with the US came after India tested its nuclear weapons in Pokharan in 1998. This event was preceded by 2 other major changes in India’s domestic and foreign policy. Post-cold-war, the relevance of NAM stood challenged. In the absence of two blocs, the question of sidelining or remaining non-aligned didn’t make much sense.
Secondly, in the wake of simmering BoP crisis over a decade, India had to see off its strategy of autarky. It exchanged loans from IMF in return of SAPs which made opening up of economy imperative. These two landmark structural changes in the way India was going to engage with the outer world provided a basis of building relations with the US on firm foundations. Closed economy and NAM had restricted cooperation in key areas like defense, people to people contact, trade ties, technology transfer etc. So, coming back to nuclear test, the US was left with two options: one was sanctioning India and other was to engage constructively with India accepting it as a nuclear weapon state. The US experimented with the first and settled with the later.
Strategic partnership between India and the US 

• It cannot be said that the US engaged with India out of its intent only but one must accept the role played by international situation that was there in first decade of new millennium. The 9/11 opened up new arenas of engagement for the US. 
• It came close to South Asia in its quest to deal with terrorism. Side by side, China was also rising. It was asserting itself in South China Sea. It was putting bizarre claims on islands, drawing arbitrary lines in waters to keep other countries out, flirting with territorial waters of other littoral countries, building military bases, creating ports etc. 
• Meanwhile, volume of trade through Indo-Pacific was competing with that through Atlantic waters. Developing countries were rising in South and South-East Asia. Rogue states like North Korea were also threatening global order.
• This was the overall situation in which the US saw its interests as a global hegemony threatened and understood that it needs to shift its focus from Atlantic and Middle East to Asia-Pacific. It needed to be present there. This was the substance that fuelled the global strategy of the US in past two decades. 

Global strategy of the US and India’s position in it 

• In this backdrop, India appeared to be a natural ally to the US. Since old inhibitions like NAM, closed economy etc. were gone and emerging necessities drove the relationship based on realist calculations. Keeping in mind aspirations of India as a rising power and having common stakes in peaceful rise of China and maintenance of a rule based order in Asia-Pacific, Indo-US rapprochement became logical. 
• Pakistan: USA slashed the aid that was disbursed to Pakistan to fight terrorism pushing FATF ban on Pakistan. The listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar as an international terrorist by the UN is an example of uncritical American support to India. 
• In this direction, the US entered into civil nuclear agreement with India. It roped in India along with two other democracies of the region i.e. Australia and Japan to form a quadrilateral initiative. India was declared a Major Defense Partner of the US in 2016. 
• Certain agreements were signed like COMCASA, LEMOA etc. that provided defense and technological inputs equivalent to those available only to allies of America. It received a support to enter high tables like NSG, UNSC etc. Our position on international terrorism was almost similar. 
• India was till recently availing the benefits of GSP that made our exports more competitive in the US markets. All these steps bring the US and India closer physically and emotionally. There is great decline of cold war skepticism towards the US. 
• But everything is not as rosy as it appears. There are areas of contention between the US and India in almost all domains of strategic partnership. 
• In its dealings with Iran, India is hindered by the US sanctions on the former. Our economic policies in areas of agriculture, e-commerce, IPR regime, protection of domestic interests doesn’t go well with neo-liberal philosophy of America. 
• Recent withdrawal of USA from JCPOA, also called the Iran Nuclear deal and the imposition of sanctions on Iran, who is major exporter of oil to India and also a strategic partner of India ( Chabahar Port) with whom we enjoy civilization ties has adversely affected our relations with Iran. 
• We are not on same page in dealing with climate change. Trump’s America First Policy is keen to deprive us of benefits of GSP. Our Kashmir policy is not getting full support of America. 
• What one needs to appreciate is that these irritants in Indo-US relations are byproduct of misfit between global strategy of the US and interests of India. CAATSA humiliates India by questioning its strategic autonomy. 
• Pakistan is important for the US to deal with Afghanistan issue. Iran-US animosity if age old. By denying climate change, the US doesn’t want to lose its preeminent positions as an economic superpower. Protectionism of America is fuelled by a sense of transactional relationship spurred under Trump. Our public good approach towards agricultural products doesn’t find resonance with neo-liberal approach of the US. 

Conclusion 
Hence, what we conclude is that relations between the US and India are driven by areas where our interests converge. The US is ultimately protecting its national interests and so does India. Wherever they disagree, it’s the power of America that finds way. US policy has always been this realist. What India needs to realize is that foreign policies are driven by interests and not ideal.

Topics covered - FATF, Global terrorism, NAM