India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

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Avarachan
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Avarachan »

Regarding China, I think the threat is overblown ... In terms of noise levels, for instance, India's nuclear submarines are approximately 15 years ahead of China's. (I make this assessment on the basis of publicly available information. To know more, one can start with this article: https://fas.org/blogs/security/2009/11/subnoise/)
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Austin »

India should rethink relationship with Iran: Nikki Haley
India imports the overwhelming majority of its oil and Iran is the third-largest supplier to the nation.

Haley said she understood India “can’t change its relationship with Iran in a day” but said she used a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to encourage a reassessment.

“I also think for the future of India, and the future of being able to get resources and who they’re dependent on, I would encourage them to rethink their relationship with Iran,” she told news channel NDTV after an address in New Delhi.

“I think as a friend, India should also decide is this a country that they want to continue doing business with.”
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Neshant »

^^^^ Ask the US do the same for Pakistan.

There is way more global terrorism coming out of Pakistan than Iran.

A plane hijacker fom a terrorist group is a literally trying to run for elections in Pakistan.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by abhik »

Austin wrote:US Envoy Nikki Haley Speaks To NDTV On Iran, 2+2 Summit: Highlights

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/us-envo ... rpush=true
Here are the highlights of her interview with NDTV.

On the postponement of "2+2 summit", she says it won't affect US-India ties. "There is a good reason that Modi and Sushma (Swaraj) know of. There are already talking about rescheduling." She dismissed that the postponement was a snub to India.

Nikki Haley, speaking to Nidhi Razdan on US-Iran ties and role of India in the bigger picture, said: "We have seen several violations that Iran was not following rules. Iran was violating use of balistic weapons. We should all re-think who we want to do business with. Modi and me spoke about it. The fact that India cannot change its relations with Iran in a day, I suggested looking at other options."

"We do not take the relations with Russia and India lightly. We have multiple things to look at with respect to US-Russia relations, Election meddling," she told NDTV.

Asserting that "freedom of religion was important", she said, "India, US and everyone should respect religious sentiments and faiths. It needs to be protected. I don't think India alone needs to be reminded. Countries are falling apart and freedom of religion should take this into account."
Given this was on undi-tv hosted by non other than Nidhi aunti, was the comment on "freedom of religion" in response to a specific question on it?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by nvishal »

The nuclearization of iran has broken the balance of power between shias and sunnis in the middle-east. When a state goes nuclear, it creates a limitation for the american geo-policy. The dilemma for the americans is to provide nuclear weapons to the arab to restore the balance. In the past, the americans had(through the chinese) done this with pakistan.

Here is the funny thing. The amercians were trying to balance india by nuclearizing pakistan in the 70s. Now 30-40 years later, elements within the pakistani establishment have succeeded in enabling iran to go nuclear. Balancing india has unbalanced the middle-east haha

The amercians do not want to fight a nuclear state so they are using financial and economic sanctions to contain the rise of (iran)shia islam.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Austin »

Nikki Haley talks tough on Iran import curbs, India may fall in line

HIGHLIGHTS

The Iran message was delivered most clearly by US ambassador to UN, Nikki Haley during her visit to New Delhi
The Haley message on Iran comes even as it emerged that the US pulled out of the 2+2 dialogue with India
Haley has been the tough US face, taking the hard line against Iran, North Korea and spearheading Washington’s walkout from the UN Human
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Austin »

India braces for life without Iran oil, mulls Plan B

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/bus ... 783643.cms

HIGHLIGHTS
Amid pressure from US, India may have to stop Iranian oil flowing onto its refineries
Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait may fill the gap but there will be increase in costs
Unsure of how things will pan out, oil ministry told refiners to ready alternative sources
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by nvishal »

Meanwhile,

China to ignore US demand for Iran oil ban
Measures taking effect in November will ban purchases of Iranian oil and transactions with the Central Bank of Iran, which handles oil payments. Financial institutions that violate the sanctions will lose access to dollar-based payment systems, hampering their ability to do business internationally.

China, the top importer of oil from Iran, however, has shown no signs of complying.

"China and Iran are friendly countries to each other," the Foreign Ministry's Lu Kang told reporters Wednesday. "We maintain normal exchanges and cooperation on the basis of conforming to our obligations under the international law, including in the fields of economy, trade and energy. This is beyond reproach."
Washington's use of the dollar as a weapon may not do much harm to Beijing. China in March launched yuan-denominated oil futures to promote the currency's use in a market dominated by the greenback. Iran reportedly also accepted yuan payments from China for oil under similar sanctions in 2012.
You don't see nikki haley going to china and doing this owaisi-baazi do you?
The chinese govt/media/public talk in sync

Expect major chinese investments in iran very soon. The chinese have an open FU printed on their face and the americans can't do much about it. China providing advanced drilling and crude oil extration technology to iran will be a game changer in the shia-sunni war game. The road inside pakistan will lead to iran and beyond for the chinese.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by nits »

^^^

We need to team up with China in terms of Payment to Iran and should not stop buying oil from them because uncle wants it... What is the biggest so called co-operqation we are getting from them which will stop...

Its more of a FB friendship which is displayed between US and India without any susbtance
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by nvishal »

India is not china. Their posture reveals their capability.

Back in the 60s, we charted a path from an agriculture economy to a service based economy. We skipped the manufacturing phase altogether because of various reasons. That single decision has proved to be a missing foundation stone and it handicaps us to this day.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Cain Marko »

Speculation Alert:
My guess is that this is a game to isolate China. Not so much India or Russia for that matter since neither of these countries are an economic challenge ATM. India and even Russia will probably be coopted in the US, Saudi, Israel embrace. And one feels that India is quite willing. Let's see how this unfolds, my guess is Russian and US Weapons at affordable prices are on the way.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by nvishal »

It is important to understand the american culture. They don't put their military power against a state that they cannot win against(russia) or a state that is unpredictable(pakistan). A sane state with a nuclear deterrence is untouchable. A rouge state with nuclear deterrence is too hot to handle.

To handle russia, they undertook a mission of "alliances". The effort was to convince the soviets into thinking that they could not win because the odds were against them.

All these six states(india, north korea, iran, pakistan, china and russia) are nuclear states in some form or another. The americans have a problem with all of them but they have never invaded any of these states. They have never fought a war against them openly. The amercians prefer to fight them through:

1) proxy - balancing one state against another or
2) entering into strategic alliances with their regional foes to create a sense of panic and disillusionment in resistence

China is a nuclear power. It is a manufacturing beast with markets and goodwill(created through cheap exports) around the globe. It has full potential to float a global currency in lieu of the US dollar. The americans cannot impose financial sanctions on it. They cannot fight the chinese militarily. They cannot get a regional power(russia or india) to do that for them. In essence, china is a lost case for the americans.

On the other hand are iranians. They have a strong military culture. They have nuclear capability in some form. But unlike the chinese, their military power projection is limited within a few hundred miles. The iranians dont have a manufacturing capacity(global exports) but they do have oil which has substantial leverage. They cannot challenge the dominance of the US dollar. The americans cannot take them militarily but they can impose financial sanctions on them. And they can get their foes to gang up against them.

Here is what I think is going to happen. The chinese are going to do the same to iran which they did to north korea. Both of them(iran and north korea) are a headache to the US. The north koreans disturb the balance on the korean peninsula and pose an existential crisis for the south koreans(a US ally). The nuclearization of iran is doing the same in the middle-east and posing an existential crisis to the arabs(another US ally). The chinese(and the russians) are not going to solve these problems on behalf of the US unless the amercians can offer something delicious to them.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by rsingh »

What do we stand to loose? It is possible to list all the actions US may take to harm us. Why Nikkie was granted audience with modi ji.
Some inputs
- Modi met Putin and Eleven for unscheduled talks
- US openly threatening us against Russian arms and Iranian oil
- slapping tariffs on steel
- just last week our FM declared that we will not obey unilateral sanctions
- Nikki whatever visits us and GOI is shaking
What leverage Us has?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by eklavya »

Oil price is up almost 10% this week because of the Iran oil exports issue. Who benefits: KSA and Russia. Trump “foreign policy” is bought and paid for and p**d on too. He makes Laloo Prasad look like a decent politician.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Supratik »

We need to prevent Iran and North Korea from having a nuclear arsenal for geo-political reasons. But we should ask the Americans what will you do for us on say Pakistan. If the price is good we will do a deal. The only concern is if India is selling it cheap given our Nehruvian MEA.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Kashi »

Supratik wrote:We need to prevent Iran and North Korea from having a nuclear arsenal for geo-political reasons.
Why? What geo-political reasons would that be?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Supratik »

NK to block one arm of the NK-China-Pak axis. Iran to prevent more Muslim countries from going nuclear. They have ganged up against us in the past.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by CRamS »

Guys, I don't mean to trivialize scholarly discussion here, but my 2 cents on the India US theatrics:

1. I don't see any major reason for the postponement of 2+2 except that India is not highest list of priorities for US given the buzz around NK, Putin summit etc. Thats all there is to it. There is infinitely more buzz in New Delhi about 2+2 than in US. As we on BR know, there is a very close coordination between US media and US govt on foreign policy. If this 2+2 BS was so important to US, US media would have spoken about it. I maybe wrong, but can anyone show me a single report on mainstream US media about postponement of 2+2 (maybe Reuters 'South Asia' desk may have had a routine by line)?

2. Nikki baby is showered a lot of adulation in India despite her running away from her Indian Sikh roots like a dog whose tail is on fire. Yet, its pathetic to see Indians lining up and swooning to get in her good book. What surprises me is that even Sikhs are getting carried away by her celebrity status even though she left their fold (normally one associates such slavish behavior with deracinated Hindus). Her choice of changing her identity is personal, but why should those she dissed go berserk over this mystifies me. Clear manifestation of colonial diseases that still pervades India. BTW, I did not watch the interview that Omar Abdullah's keep did with Niki that someone posted, but she (Nidhi) ask Nikki whether she likes samosa and mango lassi :-)?

3. I actually like so called US India strategic relations being relegated to dust bin of history. As long as US continues to mollycoddle TSP and does equal equal between India and TSP, any talk of 'strategic India US relations' is only only the delusional minds of Indian elite. And its good if this artificial hype is given a burial and Trump bahadur's transactional relationship with us SDERs quietly blossoms.

4. There are reports, not sure if they are authentic, that ModiJi has caved in to Trump bahadur's threadts and has agreed to stop Iranian imports. Humiliating to see how much leverage US has over India.

5. While India is hardly on US radar screen, I must agree with RudraJi's observations. The virulently anti-Hindu lobby, combination of evangelists and such are given somewhat of a free run to pursue their agenda to the extent it serves US interests. All said and done, US would rather prefer a eunuch thigbandhan in power in delhi (and a cheer leading media like UndY that gives a running commentary on Nick Jonas's exploits with Priyanka Chopra) under their Italian pappu rather than a BJP govt with some semblance of a nationalist bone.

6. I can only sum up India US relations as follows. Ut take some supreme arrogance and self confidence and sense of superiority that a hard core white Christian nationalist US govt condescendingly preaches to India about religious tolerance? And what it does it tell you about India that those in India who hate ModiJi with passion actually welcome US's slap on him on religious tolerance?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by rsingh »

US kept quite about Bakistans giving pum to NoKo, They could have stopped these dealings, So US has to find a solution, If US wants us to not to deal with Iran,,,,,,,,,then they have to compensate ,
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haridas »

abhik wrote:
Austin wrote:US Envoy Nikki Haley Speaks To NDTV On Iran, 2+2 Summit: Highlights

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/us-envo ... rpush=true
Given this was on undi-tv hosted by non other than Nidhi aunti, was the comment on "freedom of religion" in response to a specific question on it?
Foriegn govt reps like nikki are trained to refer to foriegn President n Prime-minister always with proper title. This wannabe wasp who is very low on US pecking order is referring to Indian PM & FM as some brown souther missi (us ref to black women) chump.
:evil:
Kick her off back to foggy bottom where sun never shines.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haridas »

nvishal wrote:India is not china. Their posture reveals their capability.

Back in the 60s, we charted a path from an agriculture economy to a service based economy. We skipped the manufacturing phase altogether because of various reasons. That single decision has proved to be a missing foundation stone and it handicaps us to this day.
Please substatiate your assertion of so called charted a path in 60s.

I say baloney ! you not know what you are taking !!
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Neshant »

Is US planning another regime change or color revolution in iran

It sure seems like it.

Ask for the same to be applied to Pakistan which exports way more terrorism than Iran
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by rsingh »

Neshant wrote:Is US planning another regime change or color revolution in iran

It sure seems like it.

Ask for the same to be applied to Pakistan which exports way more terrorism than Iran
Iranians are too smart for colour revolutions,
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by chetak »

abhik wrote:
Austin wrote:US Envoy Nikki Haley Speaks To NDTV On Iran, 2+2 Summit: Highlights

https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/us-envo ... rpush=true
Given this was on undi-tv hosted by non other than Nidhi aunti, was the comment on "freedom of religion" in response to a specific question on it?
many of her statements are uncalled for and not "diplomatese" in any sense of the word.

A mere ambassador does not publicly refer to the FM and PM of a major country like India by name and that too, in India and in a Indian media event. The usual way is to always use the title only or use the title + name, not sushma and Modi, as she does. In diplomatic status, they both outrank her by a country mile. First names is disrespectful, culturally inappropriate and if she took pains to show up at a gurdwara to belo rotis, then respect for the elders comes with the terrority and she knows it.

Image

Familiarity breeds contempt and she is sending a specific message by being condescendingly familiar.

NDTV is available in many countries and is the default channel for India news for lazy couch potato white skins and culturally illiterate Indians settled abroad.

Her comment on religion is church sponsored and by that I mean that the SD is involved in the messaging.

and here's why

A tour of the Central Baptist Church was also part of her itinerary.
Last edited by chetak on 29 Jun 2018 22:34, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by RoyG »

India isn't too bothered about Iran, Pakistan, NK, etc. We just want to coast along and modernize.

US is preparing for military offensive against Iran.

May explain why were are doubling our strategic oil reserve capacity and trying to get other oil sellers into our basket at emergency pace.

I agree with Neshant - If a military offensive commences we are going to get an expanded Persian Gulf War which is going to shock the system.

It has already started with oil sanctions and US will force them to fire the first shot, absorb the hit, and slam em hard.

The Russians and Chinese have been preparing for this and will likely apply the same NK formula and bring the US to the negotiating table before it happens. Either way they have contingency plans in place.

This is sort of the scenario that I'm thinking may happen - Iran is pummeled. Oil shock for a month which will cause Ruble to skyrocket in value and make Russian fossil fuel reserves extremely attractive to Japan, SK, Europe etc. It will also force China to accede some of its influence within SCO to Russia b/c it will have to make up the shortfall by sourcing more its oil and natural gas from them. The two countries could even coordinate their moves within gold market and come up with some gold backed transitional currency. The US benefits because the stress on petrodollar would decrease and stem eroding confidence in US security guarantees to gulf royals. I expect some substantial roll back on missile defence in East Europe which is why US proly left in a hurry to meet Putin. Big announcement proly coming - DETENTE.

India swings toward petrodollar in a big way and serves as a buffer to China for both Russia and US. Overall attacking Iran at this point now may be beneficial to both axis.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Austin »

Nikki is not a professional diplomat and her work at UN has hardly any professional touch to it , She is just there because Trump wants her to be there like some political nominee who can read well what is given to her on the paper else left to her she just rants like an idiot like some one lacking basic common sense.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Haridas »

^^
If she is her masters voice onlee (by the way the seat she warms in UN, is what it is, she measures up to it and doing fine job there, so no excuse).

Then she giving equivalent of Gaali to PM Modi and Foriegn Minister Swaraj, should be understood as Gaali to India by current dispensation in USA.
Just give reciprocal Gaali response to Dumb& Trumpwaa, via official indian UN embassedor.
Endif
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

Haridas wrote:
abhik wrote: Given this was on undi-tv hosted by non other than Nidhi aunti, was the comment on "freedom of religion" in response to a specific question on it?
Foriegn govt reps like nikki are trained to refer to foriegn President n Prime-minister always with proper title. This wannabe wasp who is very low on US pecking order is referring to Indian PM & FM as some brown souther missi (us ref to black women) chump.
:evil:
Kick her off back to foggy bottom where sun never shines.
If you watch the video of the actual interview, Haley always refers to "Prime Minister Modi" and "Foreign Minister" as per protocol. It is NDTV's text report accompanying the video that deliberately misquotes Haley as saying "Modi" and "Sushma".
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Philip »

If we give in to Trump's blackmail it will confirn alleged suspicions that even the political masters of the nation have no ghoolies like our MEA.We will be the laughing stock of ghd globd if Chins gives the US the upturned finger while we let the US finger us!
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by pankajs »

^^
What? :shock:

Since when did our politicos have goolies?
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

ramana wrote:RD, it's not nonsense. Wish you think.deeper. Most likely all those black projects are ready for diplay. Toeffler in Future Shock writes about 5gon plans to occupy nodal points in space.
Ramana,

"Future Shock" was written in 1970. Toffler had a lot of great insights for his time, but he was also very much a thinker of his times. That was the era of the space race when the whole focus of Soviet-US technological rivalry was moon landings, Mars orbiters, space stations etc. So, little wonder he writes about the 5gon as having plans to strategically expand into space.

By contrast, Toffler did not foresee the biggest strategic preoccupations of today: cyberwarfare, network-centric warfare, 4GW etc. He did refer to AI and automation, but given the multiple quantum leaps in computing from 1970 till today, even his prodigious imagination fell short of envisioning what would become possible (and how quickly so) in this realm.

The problem with "space force" notions is that maintaining a significant armed presence in space on a permanent basis, even for a country like USA, is an overwhelmingly costly proposition. See what happened when Reagan proposed Star Wars (SDI). Reagan enjoyed god-like popularity, thumping electoral majorities, but even a Congress that hung on his every word refused to fund that project. Trump by contrast is going to face serious economic difficulties in the medium term, and who knows where the midterms will leave him in terms of political clout.

Expanding into space takes a lot of bucks, but there is (for now) not enough "bang" to be had. Dedicating such immense resources might make sense if (as seemed to be the case during the 1960s-70s) some rival power was already making its moves, creating a compulsion to get there first. Today nobody is even thinking about going into space in a big way... there are far more efficient channels to allocate resources for maximum strategic benefit. Forget the Russians; even the Chinese with their vast new-found wealth (and absolute CPC control over spending priorities) are focusing on naval power and AI as their primary spheres of mil-tech advancement.

That's why I think (in Trump's case) the "Space Force" is nonsense. He comes up with 1000 initiatives to tweet about every week. Build a wall, sanction Iran, pacify the Korean Peninsula, repeal and replace Obamacare, make EU allies pay for NATO, sanction Russia, make up with Russia, start a trade war with everybody, ityadi ityadi and somewhere in there a "space force" is also mentioned. The MOST optimistic outcome that America can hope for with Trump is that he is like a squid... he blasts out a million particles of ink to obscure his true destination so that no-one knows what he is really planning. The less optimistic is that he has no idea if he's coming or going, but is happy if his political TRP keeps up from week to week.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/t ... 281893.ece

This is in the Chindu, but it's by Suhasini Haidar who appears to have done her homework in this case. Look at all the evidence that US (through initiatives led by VP Mike Pence!) is quickly kissing- and making-up with Pakistan. Seems like CPEC is prompting the Pakis to leave their "all-weather" fliends out in the cold, and return instead to the familiar warmth of Washington's embrace. The Americans, for their part, are apparently welcoming the Pakis back into their fold.

The deepening disconnect
Postponement of the 2+2 dialogue has come amid growing India-U.S. estrangement in South Asia.

If there were any doubts about a ‘disconnect’ between New Delhi and Washington in the past few months, the U.S.’s decision to put off the first ‘2+2’ dialogue with India should put them to rest. The 2+2, as the enhanced engagement between the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence is called, was an outcome of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump’s first meeting last June in Washington. Exactly a year later, it is still to take off.

Differing on many fronts

If the optics are bad, the messaging is worse. Since January, the U.S.’s Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act against those conducting business with Russia and Iran, as well as its decision to walk out of the Iran nuclear deal have come right up against India’s interests. India has, in turn, tightened its engagement with Russia, China and Iran, with Prime Minister Modi advocating a course of “strategic autonomy”. On bilateral trade, hardly a week goes by without the U.S. and India firing one salvo or another. And on their strategic relationship, upgraded to a ‘major defence partnership’ only recently, the two governments have failed to make progress on signing foundational agreements, which in turn has held up talks on defence procurement and technology transfers. Simply put, seldom in the past two decades since India and the U.S. rebooted ties have the two sides differed so publicly on so many fronts at the same time.

Unfortunately, one of the areas they had made good progress on, the U.S.’s South Asia policy, also appears to be in trouble. According to the policy announced about ten months ago, India was to be central to the U.S.’s efforts in Afghanistan while Pakistan would be ‘put on notice’ for its support to terror groups, including those that target India. The year began with Mr. Trump’s tweet lashing out at Pakistan, followed by suspension of U.S. military aid. The U.S. also sought to “greylist” Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force on terror financing. However, there are enough indications that Mr. Trump’s South Asia policy is veering towards the U.S.’s Af-Pak policy of the past with the U.S. engaging Pakistan to help with Afghanistan, and India consigned a more supplementary role.
Coordinated contacts

The first indicator of this shift is the increase in U.S.-Pakistan engagement, in conjunction with a rapid improvement in Pakistan-Afghanistan ties. In March, the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Shahid Abbasi, met U.S. Vice President Mike Pence in Washington, and a few weeks later Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Mr. Abbasi finalised the seven-point Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity. In June, Mr. Pence spoke with caretaker Prime Minister Nasirul Mulk. Next, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke with Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, who then travelled to Kabul just ahead of the surprise Eid ceasefire between Afghan forces and the Taliban. During his visit to Kabul, General Bajwa also met the U.S. Commander for the Resolute Support Mission, General John Nicholson.

None of these appear to be coincidental, and together point to coordinated contacts between Washington, Kabul and Islamabad-Rawalpindi. Admitting as much in Washington, Mr. Trump’s point person for the region, Lisa Curtis, said that the U.S. had formally requested Pakistan to help facilitate the three-day Eid ceasefire. Concurrently, the U.S. administration’s language on Pakistan with Afghanistan has softened, and Ms. Curtis said this month that the U.S. sought to “understand Pakistan’s own core security concerns and ensure that its (Pakistan’s) interests are taken into account in any peace process.”

While the U.S. State Department has called for Pakistan to act against all groups operating in its territory, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), its own military actions have left many in Delhi bemused. To begin with, while the U.S. has carried out a number of drone strikes since Mr. Trump announced his new policy, the large bulk of them are on Afghan, not Pakistani, territory. According to the U.S.-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which tracks all reported strikes, American forces carried out more than 100 air and drone strikes in Afghanistan in 2017, and more than 40 till date in 2018. The corresponding figures for strikes in Pakistan are five and one, respectively.

To Pakistan’s advantage

What’s more, among the most prominent “kills” were leaders of groups that Pakistan had called on the U.S. to target, most prominent of them being Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah. His killing in June is believed to be a direct trade-off for Pakistan’s assistance in bringing Afghan Taliban leaders to agree to the ceasefire, the first time they have done so. In an article in The New York Times on Wednesday, Mr. Ghani expressed his gratitude for the ceasefire, and the ensuing, albeit short-lived, peace that saw ordinary Afghans and Taliban fighters greeting each other. Extending another offer for talks, he wrote: “I will sit and negotiate with the Taliban’s leader, Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada, anywhere he wants.”

While the killing of terrorists anywhere as well as the cessation of hostilities must be welcomed by India, the contrast in terms of action it has demanded cannot be ignored. LeT chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, is now addressing political rallies in Lahore for parliamentary elections in which his son and son-in-law are candidates, and JeM chief Masood Azhar lives undisturbed in his Bahawalpur home. Last month, he issued threats against India during the Kashmir cease-ops.


The Chabahar factor

Finally, there are India’s regional concerns that stem from Mr. Trump’s Iran policy, which has spurred new sanctions against all countries and companies doing business in Iran and imposed a November 4 deadline to reduce oil imports from Iran to “zero”. Regardless of India’s determination to go ahead with its dealings with Iran, the impact of American restrictions will be felt in Chabahar Port, once billed as India’s gateway to Afghanistan, and a key component of its role in the U.S.’s South Asia policy. During the previous U.S. administration’s sanctions regime, India was able to get a ‘carve out’ for its port project and the railway line to Afghanistan through Zahedan. But there is no indication that the Trump administration will offer any such exemptions. Besides, as India is made perforce to yield to the U.S. on cutting oil imports, the Iranian regime is likely to look with disfavour at India’s engagement in Chabahar as well.

Clearly, none of these predicaments is new, and India has pulled the situation to its advantage in the past. The difference this time is that the India-U.S. dialogue is not as robust as before, while India’s planned engagements with Russia Iran and China in the next few months may render bilateral ties yet more difficult. Rescheduling the 2+2 at the earliest opportunity, in the face of the high stakes involved for both New Delhi and Washington, is crucial.
Prem
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Prem »

Kashi wrote:
Supratik wrote:We need to prevent Iran and North Korea from having a nuclear arsenal for geo-political reasons.
Why? What geo-political reasons would that be?
In long term , we will have border with Iran. Persian Mullahs having survived slaughter by Sunnis , Nuke arsenal and oil will be bad for our security interests .
kit
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by kit »

NIkki Haleys visit is just an informal meet .. the press made too many 'formal' connotations to her talks .. i think all her comments etc are best ignored, hardly worth any discussion. let her enjoy her India trip and go., give her space.
kit
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by kit »

Iran is hardly North Korea or even Iraq for the US to have a walkover , it will be more like throwing oil into the simmering fire of middle east .. only an idiot can sanction such an adventure
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by Rudradev »

kit wrote: .. only an idiot can sanction such an adventure
That's exactly why Trump is gearing up to do it:

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/ ... oup-680627
Two close confidants of President Donald Trump are scheduled to speak Saturday before a controversial Iranian opposition group previously designated as a terrorist outfit, raising fresh questions about the group’s Washington influence as Trump pursues a pressure campaign against Tehran.

Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and informal adviser Newt Gingrich are listed as headliners for Saturday’s “Free Iran” conference in Paris, organized by the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq and its affiliates. For 15 years, the U.S. designated the MEK a terrorist group, while analysts describe it as a cult – both allegations the group rejects.

The MEK holds frequent conferences, but this weekend’s gathering comes at a heady moment for the group. Several of the politicians it has cultivated in recent years, with the help of handsome speaking fees, are now key figures in Trump’s orbit — including not only Giuliani and Gingrich but National Security Adviser John Bolton.
Ahmad Chalabi redux. Trump thinks a good war will put his ratings over the top if waged before the 2018 midterm elections.
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by ShauryaT »

>>Rudradev
>>The problem with "space force" notions is that maintaining a significant armed presence in space on a permanent basis, even for a country like USA, is an overwhelmingly costly proposition.

Can I suggest to mods a separate thread for air-space weaponization? Think it is an important topic and India should not be left behind in this area through denial regimes that will inevitably follow. RD: The "costs" to weaponize space and its ROI is a matter of debate.
ramana
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by ramana »

Rudradev wrote:
Haridas wrote: Foriegn govt reps like nikki are trained to refer to foriegn President n Prime-minister always with proper title. This wannabe wasp who is very low on US pecking order is referring to Indian PM & FM as some brown souther missi (us ref to black women) chump.
:evil:
Kick her off back to foggy bottom where sun never shines.
If you watch the video of the actual interview, Haley always refers to "Prime Minister Modi" and "Foreign Minister" as per protocol. It is NDTV's text report accompanying the video that deliberately misquotes Haley as saying "Modi" and "Sushma".

Sahi pakde aap.
ramana
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by ramana »

RD, You will be surprised.
ShyamSP
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Re: India-US relations: News and Discussions IV

Post by ShyamSP »

ShauryaT wrote:>>Rudradev
>>The problem with "space force" notions is that maintaining a significant armed presence in space on a permanent basis, even for a country like USA, is an overwhelmingly costly proposition.

Can I suggest to mods a separate thread for air-space weaponization? Think it is an important topic and India should not be left behind in this area through denial regimes that will inevitably follow. RD: The "costs" to weaponize space and its ROI is a matter of debate.
A lot of players in private business that were encouraged for "better, faster, cheaper, tourism" rockets can help speed up the space force. That was plan all along.

Space force station with gun holding men shooting down is beyond the range of Mullah Bazukas :)
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