Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu
The forthcoming Strategic Dialogue between India and the United States will be comprehensive and cover the “entire gamut of bilateral relations,” according to Rahul Chhabra, Indian Minister for Press, Information and Culture here.

The Strategic Dialogue, to be held in Washington during June 1-4, will be led by S.M. Krishna, Minister for External Affairs, on the Indian side, and by Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, for the U.S. It will cover such a wide range of policy areas as including energy, agriculture, science and technology, health, education, defence and counter-terrorism.

Going by the statements of both the Indian Embassy here and the State Department, the “Singh-Obama 21st Century Knowledge Initiative” will receive a major shot in the arm during this dialogue. The Initiative aims to increase university linkages and junior faculty development exchanges between U.S. and Indian universities.

In that context Mr. Chhabra noted that Human Resources Minister Kapil Sibal’s visit to the U.S. last year “generated interest in leading universities in U.S. to consider collaborations or a presence in India.” He added that the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill was tabled in the Parliament earlier this month and following that Mr. Sibal is scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with his counterpart U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan on June 2.

Other key meetings

Another key set of meetings will be led by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who will hold a bilateral meeting on June 2 with her counterpart William Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. She will also meet with Eric Hirschhorn, Under Secretary for Industry and Security at the Department of Commerce – likely to be a closely followed discussion as Ms. Rao and Mr. Hirschhorn co-chair the U.S.-India High Technology Cooperation Group.

Speaking about the planned meetings on Friday, Robert Blake, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, said, “We have made very good progress over the last year on both the global and bilateral fronts in our relations with India.”


In terms of the global issues Mr. Blake noted that Mr. Singh had played “a very important role in Copenhagen in the climate change negotiations,” and also praised his participation the recent Nuclear Security Summit hosted by President Obama. In particular, Mr. Blake noted that Mr. Singh had then announced that India would build a centre for nuclear security.

Food security would also be discussed at the Strategic Dialogue, Mr. Blake suggested, as would health – through establishing a global disease detection centre aimed at finding cures for major global pandemic diseases.

U.S.-India relationship

In terms of issues specific to the U.S.-India relationship, Mr. Blake noted there were 18 separate dialogues under way on the bilateral front, one of the most important being the nuclear issue, “following up on the civil nuclear agreement in the Bush Administration.” He said that as a follow-up to that, the U.S. was “following very closely the nuclear liability legislation that the Indian Government has introduced into the Indian parliament.” He hoped that would be consistent with the Convention on Supplementary Compensation, he added.

Finally Mr. Blake highlighted the “unprecedented counterterrorism cooperation that is taking place between our two governments,” underscoring the increasingly common threats such as Lashkar e-Taiba and similar groups. He said, “We have had very close cooperation, and we look forward to doing even more in that area.”

Labels: Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor, National Security Strategy, Obama administration

From The Hindu

The Obama administration will pursue a different national security strategy to that of the earlier administrations by focusing more on cooperative alliances with foreign powers rather than adopting a unilateralist approach, according to the just-released National Security Strategy document.

In the document, a key statement of intentions by the White House, President Obama said, “We will be steadfast in strengthening those old alliances that have served us so well, while modernising them to meet the challenges of a new century.”

Speaking to The Hindu Lisa Curtis, Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, however said, “Aside from differences in tone and emphasis, the overall thrust of the Obama national security doctrine does not stray significantly from that of the Bush administration. The focus on building alliances is good but the key will be in the implementation of this strategy.”

Integrated approach

In an earlier speech addressing cadets at the West Point military academy the President made similar references to working with allies through a more integrated approach that did not rely so heavily on purely military engagements. At the academy he had said, the U.S. had to build and integrate the capabilities that could advance its interests.

He noted, “America’s armed forces are adapting to changing times, but your efforts have to be complemented.” Mr. Obama argued that the U.S. needed the renewed engagement of its diplomats, from “grand capitals to dangerous outposts”. He said it also needed development experts to “support Afghan agriculture and help Africans build the capacity to feed themselves”.

Mr. Obama stressed the need for intelligence agencies that “work seamlessly with their counterparts to unravel plots that run from the mountains of Pakistan to the streets of our cities. We need law enforcement that can strengthen judicial systems abroad, and protect us here at home. And we need first responders who can act swiftly in the event of earthquakes and storms and disease,” he pointed out.

“Damaging reference”

Yet in terms of blunting the U.S.’ use of military power, Ms. Curtis observed that the National Security Strategy document’s firm language on the need to succeed in Afghanistan was “coupled with a tremendously damaging reference to a commitment to begin reducing U.S. troop levels in July 2011”.

She noted that President Obama needed to understand that “continuing to highlight the withdrawal of U.S. troops at such an early date is itself severely undermining the U.S. ability to achieve success in Afghanistan as it sends a signal to the Afghans and others in the region that the U.S. is not truly committed to prevailing over the Taliban”.

Speaking earlier, John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism argued, “The President’s strategy describes how this effort will require a broad, sustained, and integrated campaign that harnesses every tool of American power – military and civilian, kinetic and diplomatic, and, indeed, the power of our values and partnerships with other nations and institutions.” He said this strategy exemplified a multi-departmental, multinational multi-generational effort.

Labels: Barack Obama, National Security Strategy, U.S. security measures