Why does the United States believe it is in its interest to be closer to India?
Narendra Modi’s presence in Washington last week demonstrated that the United States needs India more than any other country in the Asia-Pacific region. It has, because India is the most dynamic country from a demographic point of view. And it’s a country that has a pretty significant territorial dispute with China and doesn’t want to change its tone. India is still in tension with China.
But it is also a country with big economic ambitions. Therefore, the United States saw in India the possibility of transforming a nation under development into a stronger nation, capable of responding to and sustaining American policies that harbored Chinese ambitions in Indo-Peace.
What problems does this “virtue” of America risk causing India, especially when dealing with the countries of the South?
The difficulty that this policy of America vis-à-vis India will create and has created is that there is an impression in many countries, especially Southern countries, that America has a discourse on two levels.
India as a country that is strategically significant and important for American policy, America has indeed avoided mentioning issues that bother India, such as issues related to respect for human rights for example, or respect for religious minorities in this country, especially since Narendra Modi took over as head of state and led a very strong Hindu nationalist policy, particularly with regard to Muslims.
None of these questions were responded to, or in any way publicly responded to, by Americans. And Indians took this opportunity, especially the Prime Minister, to develop a speech that said: “You see, we are supported by Americans, so there is no problem. »
On the other hand, of course, other countries that are often sidelined because they don’t respect this or that, or because they carry out policies that are contrary to the values that the United States defends, are also indexed. . This is a dual and ambiguous situation because it pushes these countries to eventually switch to other countries, especially China, even Russia.
What benefits can India still derive from this situation?
The benefits that Indians derive from this American policy are significant. We can recall, for example, that in 1972, when Richard Nixon went to Beijing and initiated a policy of normalizing relations with China, he completely disrupted the world order. Back then, America had chosen China to thwart the Soviet Union, today they chose India to thwart Chinese ambitions.
And to achieve that, they need to have a strong country economically and defensively. So Narendra Modi’s trip to Washington is on a level with Nixon’s trip in 1972. And if in 1972 Nixon did not sign a very important contract, this time Narendra Modi is back with a lot of important contracts in his bag!
We can cite two examples that are clear and which ultimately betray the interests attached to India by America: first, the transfer of technology in the field of jet engines to combat aircraft.
General Electric has indeed entered into an agreement that will allow India to benefit from an unprecedented transfer of technology, i.e. there is almost no American control over the transfer of this engine technology to India.
And on the other hand, we have Micron Technology which announced the establishment of a nearly $3 billion semiconductor factory in India. This is symbolic, because today we are in a very high tension situation around semiconductors. The Americans are trying to deprive the Chinese of access to a certain type of semiconductor, and at the same time, we are seeing a large American company specializing in this area about to open a factory… in India.
