Don’t be a pawn for US

US president Barack Obama’s visit to India comes after a decade of incremental improvement in US-India relations, which is a positive development.

There have been many reasons why the US and India work together. Institutionally, both share the values of democracy. However, the Cold War pushed the US and India apart. In addition, India’s nuclear test in 1974 further alienated the US.

These irritants are now gone. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the US and India have reoriented their relationship. Pakistan is no longer an asset meant to contain the Soviet Union, and India and America no longer need to distance themselves from each other. Since the time of President Bill Clinton, relations between New Delhi and Washington have thawed. Despite a short period of time when America sanctioned India for the latter’s nuclear weapons tests, over the last two decades, India and the US have largely normalised relations.

To be politically correct, China sees an improvement of US-India relations as beneficial to not only these two countries, but to the entire human race. In fact, both the US and India fought against British imperialism, and China was victimised by the British imposition of opium. America deserves India’s respect for its innovativeness and America could assist India in its economic programme. As Indians account for one-sixth of the world population, an improvement in India’s economic performance significantly advances the development of our planet. China has every reason to be satisfied at the growing normalisation of US-India relations.

Needless to say, nations compete. In the past, China and the US competed to test if socialism or capitalism would excel. Nowadays, the Washington Consensus seems to be contested by the so-called Beijing Consensus, which Beijing denies even exists. As India and China started from a similar base in the late 1940s, New Delhi and Beijing must be conscious of the race between the dragon and elephant.

Since their independence, China and India have helped in promoting a new international code of conduct for all nations in the post-colonial era. India has persistently supported the one-China principle and the legitimacy of the People’s Republic of China. The two countries have collaborated to bring the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence as a tenet for conducting inter-state relations.

Unfortunately, China-India relations soured over their border dispute, a legacy of British colonial rule. The Dalai Lama’s exile in India furthered this distrust. The suspicion and apprehension between the two countries have long frozen their relations. Though their ties have begun to mend from the late 1980s, the mistrust remains vast.

With China’s rapid economic advancement, Beijing inevitably has exerted pressures on the US and India. From 2000 to 2009, Beijing has narrowed its GDP gap with the US from 1:10 to 1:3 ($5.0 trillion:$14.4 trillion), and currently boasts of a relative advantage with India of 4:1 ($5.0 trillion:$1.2 trillion). America is worried that China could catch up with the US soon, and India is worried by the ever enlarging gap with China.

In this scenario, it is not impossible to expect a US-India partnership to balance China. In fact, some senior officials of the George Bush administration had explored avenues to help boost India’s competitiveness by excusing New Delhi’s nuclear weapons programme but collaborating with India on high-tech development and weapons sale.  This invited Beijing’s unpleasant response: China seemed not to be straightforward in approving the NSG’s waiver of the US-Indian cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy.

However, China need not be annoyed too much over this. After all, it is the rise of China that has warranted the re-balancing of power. Also, the rapprochement of New Delhi and Washington might still indicate their defensive approach — they wanted to hedge against uncertainty, rather than to be aggressive in the first place. As long as China respects the other’s legitimate interests and does not become expansionist, Beijing will not be harmed by the others’ hedging.

Also, Beijing should remain trustful of India’s independence in foreign policy. India might take advantage of America’s interest in collaborating with it, but it will be mindful not to be taken advantage of. India has a tradition of remaining independent on many occasions. It has to honour this tradition.

President Obama’s upcoming visit to India should not be viewed as an effort to encircle China, just as his visit to China a year ago was no attempt to ring India. America’s pragmatism in waiving its NSG obligation vis-a-vis India has already cost it its credibility regarding adherence to non-proliferation principles.

The best way to deal with China’s rise would be to engage Beijing in the shaping of its peaceful development, rather than seek to contain it at the cost of the principles or practices that Washington has worked hard to establish. America should normalise its relations with India without a particular third country in mind.

Professor Shen Dingli is the executive dean of the Institute of International Studies and the director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, China