- US lawmakers recently asked India to side with them and stay away from Russia and other G77 countries
- They believe that if they are able to bribe India through more oil and defence, then India will get to their side for short term gains
- Modi’s government is in it for the long haul and they can not trust America because of its habit of backstabbing its allies
When Joe Biden was being pushed as a nominee for Trump’s replacement, no one would give him a chance. He was old, fragile, low in cognitive ability and of course delusional. In fact, he has only got worse. This delusionality has now percolated into his administration’s perception of the India-US relationship.
US wants India to betray Russia
USA has said that it would like India to end its cordial relationship with Russia and 134 other countries of G-77. The Biden administration seems to be terrified at the prospect of Russia-India collaboration in India’s increasing indigenous defence manufacturing capacity. Uncle Sam still believes that American defence companies can replace Russian companies supplying weapons to India.
Read more: India’s defence manufacturing just got a massive upgrade
The insinuation was made by Wendy Sherman, US’s deputy secretary of state, who was replying to a question from Congressman Tim Bucheret during a Congressional hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Bucharest asked whether India being overtly neutral in Russia-Ukraine war will impact the US-India relationship.
Stating that the US wants the South-Asian giant to move away from its time tested allies Russia and G77 nations, Wendy said, “they are the largest democracy in the world. We have a strong defence relationship with them. They are part of the Quad, with Australia and Japan, and we are moving forward on many achievements that are critical to Indo-Pacific prosperity and security. We, obviously, would prefer that India move away from their long-term history of non-alignment G77 partnership with Russia,”
Read more: Jaishankar explains the difference between Cold War era NATO the futuristic QUAD
Wendy seemed a bit confused
Wendy also tried to browbeat India by insinuating that if it continues on its defence relationship with Russia, then in future they may be devoid of Russian spare parts due to American sanctions. Wendy also informed that the USA is trying to bring India to the bargaining table.
She said that diplomacy is complex. Wendy seems to finally realise that the USA has lost the Modi government’s trust. Moreover, she also observed that India will pick its national interest over any other concern. In spite of making such a crisp observation, she still went ahead to demand that India should dissociate from Russia.
Read more: Dear Shashi Tharoor, notice carefully – India has already taken a side in the Russia-Ukraine war
Democracy Card raised by lawmaker
Joe Wilson, a Republican politician, racked up the Democracy card to force India to morally submit to America’s demands. According to him, just because Joe Biden has declared the Russia-Ukraine crisis as a war on democracy, India should be standing with the USA. He also seems to threaten that the world will destabilize if Ukraine is not supported.
Applying the toxic femininity guidebook of shaming in order to get the job done, Wilson said, “This is just so illogical for the extraordinary country of India, the wonderful people of India, to be overlooking abstaining. That’s incredible. That’s such an insult to the people of India”
India does not practice non-alignment anymore
US lawmakers’ observations are nowhere close to reality. They asked India to ‘move away’ from its long term history of non-alignment. Practically speaking, India, once a pillar of the non-alignment movement, does not practice it anymore. Staying neutral was India’s requirement during the time when we did not have economic, military or strategic clout.
With enough food grains to feed a multitude of foreign countries, India is not dependent on any country for basic necessities. Our Economy has burgeoned in the last 30 years. Our Military has only changed for good. Based on these strengths, India has been able to silence China, a country perceived as Colossal by the rest of the world. We are free to choose our side.
Read more: China’s economy is bleeding after Jinping’s Galwan misadventures
India is with Russia and US refuses to acknowledge the reality
In fact, India’s increased bonding with Russia in this crisis is a prime example of that. India has decided to abstain from voting on multiple resolutions aimed at taking Russia down. Moreover, the Modi government has also opened up new trading opportunities with the Eurasian giant. Currently, India is buying Russian oil at a much discounted price. India and Russia are also working towards Rupee-Rouble trade which would remain unaffected in case one of both countries are hit by American sanctions.
If the US administration can not see the writing on the wall, it simply means that they are delusional. Nothing explains the US’ denial of the grim reality of India not kowtowing to it.