Perils Of A
Strategic Alliance
Prakash Karat
INDIA has become a strategic ally of the United States. This is the
message that president Bushs visit to India has underlined. In one sense, the
outcome of the visit was expected given the fact that last year in July, during
the prime ministers visit to Washington a strategic partnership was forged as
set out in the joint statement issued on July 18, 2005.
Embedded in this strategic alliance is the US nuclear
cooperation deal which was first mooted in the July 18 statement. The steps
taken to concretise the nuclear deal during the Bush visit have been hailed as
historic. The big business media in the country have launched an euphoric
campaign using the terminology which became familiar during the period of the
BJP-led government when the pro-US orientation began. If one were to believe the
headlines, India has acquired great power status and the India-US partnership
is being touted as the greatest event in this country since it acquired
independence. The cue has been taken from US secretary of state, Condoleezza
Rices remark last year that the Untied States will help India become a great
power. Such toadying up to the United States is typical of the English language
print and electronic media.
What is not stated in this orchestrated campaign is
that the UPA government has by this strategic
alliance with the United States eroded Indias independent foreign policy and
severely restricted its strategic autonomy. This is evident from the
nature of the strategic compact arrived at which has political, economic,
military and strategic elements involved.
All talk of enlightened national interests
is exposed when the political and ideological underpinnings of this strategic
alliance with the United States are examined.
FRAUD OF SPREADING DEMOCRACY
That the United States is the leader of this alliance
is clear from the way the political terms of the alliance have been framed. In the July 18 statement, India agreed
to promote democracy and fight terrorism globally jointly with the United
States. If the July 18 statement talked about the Global Democracy Initiative,
the current joint statement talks of India designating a representative to the
advisory board of International Centre for Democratic Transition (ICDT)
located in Budapest. In between, India had contributed $10 million to the UN
Democracy Fund along with the United States. The pro-US media and the ruling
circles have kept the Indian people in the dark about the nature of
organisations like the ICDT. This is nothing but a US-sponsored platform to
promote regime change under the garb of democracy in all those countries which
oppose US hegemony or have a socialist system. What was being done by the US
through its organisations like the National Endowment for Democracy is now being
carried forward by the Community of Democracies, the Democracy Fund and the
ICDT. What the Manmohan Singh government has agreed to is to join the US
sponsored global crusade against socialist countries like Cuba and countries
targeted by the United States like Iran, Venezuela, Syria and Zimbabwe. It is
significant and disturbing that the government of India has kept silent about
Bushs infamous remarks about the need to promote democracy and regime change in
countries like Iran, Cuba, Zimbabwe and others in his Purana Qila speech.
BLUEPRINT
FOR US CAPITAL
The joint statement issued during the visit has welcomed the report of
the US-India CEO Forum and agrees to consider its recommendations. Both the CEO
Forum and the Trade Policy Forum have submitted reports which are a blueprint
for American capital and corporations to penetrate the economy and capture the
Indian market. Among the recommendations of the CEO Forum are steps to
facilitate US banks taking over Indian private banks; increasing FDI in the
insurance sector to 49 per cent, opening up retail trade further to FDI and
setting up of a $5 billion Infrastructure Development Fund which can act as a
vehicle for US investment in infrastructure. It is stated clearly that the Fund
should only have minority Indian government participation and should leverage
the expertise of the World Bank and other financial institutions for selection
and monitoring of investments. The deputy chairman of the Planning Commission,
Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia has promptly and not surprisingly, announced that
there will be 24 committees set up, one for each recommendation made by the CEO
Forum. It is not clear whether the Planning Commission itself would set up such
committees whose sole purpose would be to facilitate American private investment
in the country.
PRIVATISING AGRICULTURAL
RESEARCH
Another agreement being given concrete shape is the
Indo-US Knowledge Initiative on
Agriculture, Research and Education. The board set up for this has
representatives of US companies like Wal-Mart and Monsanto. Forty agricultural
universities and research institutions are being linked to this initiative. The
agreement would mark a shift away from public domain science to promote private
sector interests with US multinational companies identifying the research areas
with the aim of rapid commercialisation. There are serious apprehensions that
the terms of the intellectual property rights would favour United States as
their IPR regime offers patent holders rights to life forms, plants and seeds
which can threaten the interests of local communities and their rights to
indigenous genetic resources.
MILITARY ALLIANCE
The UPA government had signed the Indo-US Defence
Framework Agreement in June 2005 on the eve of the prime ministers visit to
Washington. The serious implications of this ten-year defence cooperation pact
has already been highlighted by the CPI(M) and the Left parties. Flowing from
this agreement which the Pentagon calls a durable defence partnership, various
measures are now being taken to cement the strategic military cooperation. One
of the agreements is the Maritime Cooperation Framework announced in the current
joint statement. Under this framework the Logistics Support Agreement is also
being worked out. This will pave the way for the armed forces of both countries
to avail of logistic support and other services of each other. This would
involve using each others facilities for maintenance, servicing,
communications, refueling etc. With India agreeing to join the United States
navy in patrolling and escorting ships through the Malacca Straits and other
sea-lanes, this is a further step to integrate the operations between the two
armed forces.
Within hours of the joint statement being issued, the
Pentagon released a statement declaring its readiness to sell, on a large-scale,
weaponary to India including F-16 and F-18 fighter planes which would be worth
$6.9 billion.
QUID PRO QUO
ON NUCLEAR DEAL
The media and public attention was solely focused on
the nuclear cooperation deal to the exclusion of all these aspects of the
strategic partnership. The nuclear cooperation agreement involves an
unacceptable price for India. The United States has extended cooperation in the
civilian nuclear sector by extracting the price of India serving the American
strategic interests in Asia. This became evident soon after the July 2005
statement when in September, India voted against Iran in the IAEA board meeting.
India went against its own declared policy and has maintained this stand against
Iran because of the commitment made to the United States.
Except for the UPA government, which refuses to
acknowledge the reality, everyone knows that the US sees the strategic
partnership with India as a political, economic and military counterweight to
China. It is an important part of the US strategy in Asia. This is the reason
why the Bush administration has offered civilian nuclear cooperation. The
nuclear cooperation deal must not be divorced from the overall strategic
alliance that the United States seeks. It has a similar aim in defence
cooperation. As the Pentagon news release of March 2 stated about growing
defence and technology cooperation These
will serve key objectives of our strategic partnership by helping to build ties
amongst our defence establishments and industries and to develop
interoperatability among our armed forces. Defense technology cooperation will
contribute to strengthened military capabilities and will also result in
economic benefits through expanded trade. Supply of uranium fuel or the
sale of nuclear reactors to India is part of a package which will include
military collaboration and supply of arms and other weaponary. In return, India
has to behave as a reliable ally and in the eyes of the United States as a
junior partner in its Asian and global strategy.
PARTY STAND ON NUCLEAR ISSUE
The CPI(M) had consistently advocated that India
should have an independent nuclear policy. India had opposed the discriminatory
policy of the nuclear haves and have-nots and in the earlier days was committed
to nuclear disarmament and making the world free of nuclear weapons. The CPI(M)
had opposed nuclear weaponisation and does not subscribe to the views of those
who claim that nuclear weapon status is the way for India to acquire great
power status. In fact the BJP-led government had begun the journey of accepting
junior partnership of the United States in return for a de facto recognition as a nuclear weapon
state.
The CPI(M) had stated that the Indo-US nuclear
cooperation proposal of July 2005 should be implemented on a strict reciprocal
basis in response to the measures taken by the United States, the Nuclear
Suppliers Group and the IAEA. The CPI(M) is not opposed to the separation of
civilian and military nuclear facilities provided it does not hamper the pursuit
of an independent nuclear technology policy for peaceful purposes based on the
three phase nuclear energy programme. The Bush visit has led to an agreement on
the separation of civilian and military facilities. But the implementation of
this agreement will depend on the Bush administration getting the approval of
the US Congress and the Nuclear Suppliers Group to modify its rules in the light
of the agreement.
It is not the nuclear cooperation deal as such which
is the issue, but the quid pro quo
which is demanded of India. Compliance by India of aligning with US strategic
interests in all spheres is the real issue. The UPA government is trying to sell
the nuclear cooperation deal on the grounds that nuclear energy will have to be
the mainstay of our future energy security. This is a specious reason. The
strategic alliance with the United States will constrain India from accessing
energy from Iran and working for an Asian energy security grid which will link
Central Asia, West Asia and South
Asia. It can create fresh
tensions and problems in our region.
DEPARTURE
FROM CMP
Cutting through the claptrap of the historic breakthrough, what becomes
clear is that the UPA government has compromised Indias strategic autonomy to
develop as an independent power which can play a vital role in building
collective Asian security interests. The National Common Minimum Programme
adopted by the UPA had stated that the UPA government will pursue an
independent foreign policy keeping in mind its past traditions. This policy will
seek to promote multi-polarity in world relations and oppose all attempts at
unilateralism. The CMP does not
advocate a strategic alliance with the United States. This has come into being
with the Bush-Manmohan Singh agreements in Washington and New Delhi in the past
one-year. This is reflected in the Presidents address to parliament where the
strategic partnership is put forth as an achievement of the UPA government. This
is a basic departure from the CMP.
It is a fact that the Congress-led government has the support of the BJP
in adopting this course. But the CPI(M) and the Left cannot support this
orientation of the UPA government. Starting from the July 2005 joint statement,
the CPI(M) and the Left have come out against the strategic alliance with the
United States. It has conducted a countrywide campaign against the UPA
governments reversal on the Iran nuclear issue. The whole country has witnessed
a powerful protest movement against the visit of president Bush. The CPI(M) will
work more determinedly to fight back the growing US influence on the country,
mobilise the people for an independent foreign policy and resist the conversion
of India into a reliable ally of the United
States.