Modi-Biden Bonhomie Fine, But Delhi Will Remain On Moscow’s Side And Washington On Pakistan’s

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first state visit to the US looks picture perfect with photos of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden receiving exquisite Indian gifts from him while hugging each other, but the reality is both countries will remain firmly in each other’s grip as long as China remains their topmost challenge. Step slightly aside and one will be able to clearly see that New Delhi will never leave Moscow’s hand, nor will Washington Islamabad’s.

While it is true that the “sky is the limit” for US-India bilateral relationship, New Delhi will surely not make any effort to climb that high to pacify and accommodate American interests, because willy-nilly Indian policymakers, past and present, do realise the fact that America believes in safeguarding its own interests in the world and that is not the world India is accustomed to, nor is its citizenry. Whether it is the US’ plan to lay the web of Asia Pacific, a strategic policy laid out by former US President Barack Obama, or Indo-Pacific, as promulgated by former US President Donald Trump and continued by Biden, Washington will always need Islamabad more, just as New Delhi will continue to embrace Russia.

Balancing Act To Manage Geopolitical Interests

The Biden administration may be apparently upset with Pakistan's decades-old ties with the Taliban in Afghanistan, it should not be forgotten here that it is the same US government that sanctioned $450 million for Pakistan in order for the country to maintain its F16 fighter jet deal last September. The money got sanctioned immediately after a US drone strike killed Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2022. The Taliban claimed that the US was able to carry out the operations because Pakistan provided the airspace for the operation. So, despite a rather slowing down of ties between the US and Pakistan, Islamabad will always remain that “ally” America truly needs. 

Pakistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar recently said in an interview to POLITICO that they have “no intention” to move away from having “close, collaborative” ties with the US. On the eve of Modi’s visit to the US, Washington contributed $130 million to Pakistan for their agricultural sector. US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome visited the Gomal Zam Dam in the South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wednesday as Modi enjoyed a private dinner with the Bidens.

This only shows that not just India, even the US is continuing its fine balancing act when it comes to managing their respective geopolitical interests. So, while visuals of Modi and Biden hugging with statements of historic proportions continue to float on Indian TV news channels, losing sight of reality may prove costly.

In 2015, it was Obama who said during one of his trips to India that, “The United States welcomes a greater role for India in the Asia Pacific, where the freedom of navigation must be upheld and disputes must be resolved peacefully.” The US is still working on that endeavour even as its ties with Russia have deepened.

Just weeks before Modi was to step into America, his Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh attended a gala celebration of the National Day of Russia in its New Delhi Embassy earlier this month. “It is a great pleasure for me to be present here and convey national day greetings to our Russian friends,” said Singh, chief guest of the event. 

“There have been lies about Russia on a daily basis and on a global scale. Efforts are being made to disrupt Russia-India relations. But the indispensable truth is that the India-Russia special strategic partnership has shown strength and will keep going strong as ever,” said Denis Alipov, Ambassador of Russia to India. Both countries also recently celebrated the silver jubilee celebration of BrahMos Aerospace, the India-Russia defence joint venture. The company will open its manufacturing unit in Uttar Pradesh by 2024 and begin producing 80-100 BrahMos systems every year.

Long Road Ahead

Had it not been for former US President Donald Trump, who actually took a confrontational stance against China, the US and India would not have come this far in closely aligning defence partnership, which is now poised to see a quantum leap by way of greater technology transfer but the road ahead is still long and arduous even as the national security advisors of both countries — Jake Sullivan of the US and Ajit Doval of India — are openly spearheading a massive tech agenda under the umbrella of US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET). 

But keeping aside these jargons, the public memory of India still remembers vividly how the US’s aircraft carrier – USS Enterprise – entered the Bay of Bengal in December 1971 potentially threatening to attack India on behalf of Pakistan. The world was convoluted then, and the word is convoluted even now. During PM Modi’s current visit, both sides are once again expected to discuss Bangladesh and the upcoming elections there.

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