'Number of hurdles remain in Indo-US relationship'

I / Washington February 23, 2010, 10:51 IST

Noting that Indo-US relationship continues to move on an upward trajectory, a former Bush administration official has said that there remain a number of hurdles to build a more enduring, strategic and global partnership.

"A number of hurdles remain before the United States and India can build a more enduring, strategic, and global partnership," said Evan A Feigenbaum, in an article "India’s Rise, America’s Interest: The Fate of the US-Indian Partnership" published in the latest issue of the prestigious Foreign Policy magazine.

First, India needs to bolster its emergence as a major power—not least by sustaining high rates of economic growth, said Feigenbaum, who served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia during the previous Bush administration.

This will require India to further open its economy to competition and investment and advance ongoing reforms aimed at relieving inequality, expanding the middle class, and strengthening the country’s physical infrastructure, he said in his 16-page article.

Second, India’s emerging global influence will be sustainable only if India develops new doctrines and diplomatic capacities.

"The country has moved beyond nonalignment, to be sure, but has not yet coalesced around a new foreign policy vision," he said.

Although New Delhi may ultimately settle on a strategy that is conducive to a more open and global partnership with the United States, that is not assured, he said.

"Third, the United States needs to be sensitive to Indian concerns in a number of areas that directly affect Indian interests. Differences loom between Washington and New Delhi regarding US policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan, China, climate change, and other issues," Feigenbaum said.

"Managing such disputes—by reaching agreement or at least by mitigating the effects of disagreement—will be vital to effective cooperation," he said.

The former Bush administration official said many of India’s recent foreign policy decisions have been unprecedented: It has backed three US-supported resolutions against Iran in the International Atomic Energy Agency and is enforcing UN Security Council sanctions against Tehran.

It stopped a North Korean ship in Indian waters in August 2009 and inspected its cargo, a move supportive of US (and United Nations) nonproliferation objectives.

It is the fifth-largest donor of reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan. However, he said India’s global aspirations are constrained by its geography.

Although India is the most stable country in South Asia, events in less stable neighboring countries threaten to occupy its attention and derail its aspirations.

Pakistan is confronting institutional weakness and growing extremism; Nepal may fail as its elites jockey for power and struggle to integrate former Maoist insurgents into the political mainstream; Sri Lanka is struggling with ethnic and constitutional challenges; and Bangladesh and Myanmar are yielding unwelcome exports, such as economic migrants, refugees, and extremists.

"The United States and India share important interests: both seek to restore global growth, protect the global commons, enhance global energy security, and ensure a balance of power in Asia. They must therefore increase the scope, quality, and intensity of their cooperation at every level," Feigenbaum said.

"But the ultimate test of their relationship will be whether Washington and New Delhi can turn their common interests into complementary policies around the world," he wrote.