The Big Lens: India-US convergence on global issues stands renewed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met former US President Barack Obama five times while the latter was in office. The two leaders could establish a good working relationship and agreed on a number of issues of global importance. One such was climate change, on which Modi had offered support “without affecting our ability to meet the development aspirations of humanity.” Obama had said, “India’s leadership in this upcoming conference will set the tone not just for today but for decades to come.” The reference was to the Paris climate accord.

On his very first day as President, Joe Biden signed an executive order for the US to re-join the Paris accord. Donald Trump had withdrawn America from the global climate pact. India has been a strong votary of a globally enforceable agreement on climate change. India-US convergence on one of the most important global issues of our times stands renewed.

When Trump was in office, many cynics and habitual disparagers pontificated about how Modi would not be able to tackle the man who ran policy on Twitter. Now, the same set is asking whether Modi would be able to build bridges with Biden. They invoke the ‘Howdy Modi’ and ‘Namaste Trump’ events and the “Ab ki baar Trump sarkar” comment and the much-touted ‘personal chemistry’ between Modi and Trump to raise doubts over whether Modi and Biden will be able to see eye to eye.

Trump’s disgracing, especially after the Capitol Hill incident, has nothing to do with bilateral ties. India-US relations have seen many challenges and withstood all of them. The two have gone from being ‘estranged democracies’ to becoming ‘strategic partners’, having worked together through some difficult times in history -- from the US PL480 shipments in the 1960s to feed a drought-hit India to Richard Nixon sending the Seventh Fleet into the Indian Ocean in 1971 to threaten Delhi; from the US imposing technology sanctions for nearly three decades after India’s 1974 nuclear test to coming full circle to sign the India-US nuclear deal, the bilateral relationship has progressed beyond the personal likes and dislikes of individual leaders.

Biden is the third US President in office during Modi’s time as PM since 2014. The two countries will have to carry forward their strategic partnership taking into account today’s realities. The domestic issues in both countries will require conciliatory approaches from their leaders. The racial divide, deep polarisation and the near collapse of the healthcare system in a country of America’s democratic standing and economic riches are issues that Biden has to deal with on priority. In India, economic revival based on self-reliance and the creation of jobs for millions demand immediate attention. The list of domestic issues in both democracies is endless, but they will be able to deal with them given stable political establishments and independent institutions.

It is the global issues on which there is a greater urgency for both to converge on an action plan. Post-Cold War, the US and India have had a number of foreign policy and strategy recalibrations. From seeking to prevail upon India to roll back its nuclear weapons programme to signing the India-US nuclear deal, the US has come much closer to understanding our region from our perspective. Yet, there are other areas where Delhi needs to disabuse US policymakers as to what our interests are. India is in highly diverse region, with a kaleidoscopic neighbourhood and legacy issues left behind by the colonial rulers. Most importantly, it is beset with issues of poverty and under-development.

America has no such immediate neighbourhood to worry about. Its threat perceptions, be it economic or security-related, arise from continents far away from its borders. America’s ‘global’ problems – be it Afghanistan, Iran, Middle East, Pakistan or China – are ‘regional’ issues for India. What the US does on these issues from afar affects India closely.

For instance, US sanctions on Iran have failed to produce the desired results and have increased animosity between the two countries. But it created an obligation on our part to respect the sanctions while China made strategic inroads into Tehran. The Biden administration will have to understand and respect India’s security and economic concerns in running its foreign policy.

It appears that the Biden team will, more or less, follow the Trump administration’s line and continue to view China as a serious challenge. Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken told the Senate during his confirmation hearing that Trump “was right in taking a tougher approach to China. I disagree very much with the way that he went about it in a number of areas, but the basic principle was the right one, and I think that’s actually helpful to our foreign policy.” In a specific reference to human rights abuses, Blinken agreed with his predecessor Mike Pompeo’s characterisation of China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims as “genocide.” On Taiwan, Blinken said, “there’s been a strong and long bipartisan commitment to Taiwan…[and] the commitment to Taiwan is something that we hold to very strongly.”

There is greater convergence in Indian and US perceptions of the China threat and the need to strengthen the Quad and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. China’s increasing footprint across maritime and continental areas through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) bridging Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific is aimed at scripting a new world order based not on freedom and respect for international rules but on an authoritarian hegemony.

Biden had proposed creating “coalitions of like-minded partners and allies that make common cause with us in defence of our shared interests and our shared values.” This democratic coalition is needed “to hold China’s government accountable for its trade abuses, technology, human rights…”, he had said. The Modi government should assure him that, as always, India will be part of any effort to uphold democratic traditions, human rights, and global peace.