India, US should focus on strategic vision

Surendra Kumar
Former Ambassador

BEING the first billionaire businessman-turned-US Pre-sident, Donald Trump looks at relations with other countries through the prism of business transactions and is shocked to note that most of them enjoy a surplus in trade with the US. Having given the slogan ‘America first’, he vows to set this situation right and warns the trading partners to balance the trade or face the consequences i.e. heavy tariffs on their exports to the US. While none can fault his basic objective, his approach to achieve it is inherently flawed; relations among nations aren’t all about trade only. Besides, as French President Emmanuel Macron once said, if all nations insist on having trade surplus, how will international trade happen. The bottom line is: all nations should follow internationally accepted, non-discriminatory trade policies which offer a level playing field; legitimate disputes, if any, should be settled by the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Trump, the self-proclaimed best deal-maker, should realise that the best deal, as PM Modi always says, is the one in which both sides can claim to be the winner.

Bilateral trade (goods and services) in 2018 was valued at $141 billion, while American defence exports in the past several years have amounted to about $17 billion. India-US relations have never been better: 300-plus joint military exercises; over 50 bilateral missions covering every conceivable sphere, from space research to monsoon prediction and agriculture to education; extensive cooperation in information sharing and counter-terrorism; high-level interaction in research in cutting-edge technologies and innovations; around 1.2 lakh Indian  students flocking to American universities; over 3 million successful, rich and influential Indian Americans constituting a  productive glue; convergence on the vision for the Indo- Pacific region; 2+2 strategic and commercial dialogue; frequent meetings between the US President and the Indian PM bilaterally as well as at regional and global summits and an active hot line, contrary to some negativity generated by Trump’s tweets and irreverent rants and announcement of tariffs on each other’s products. Unless the top leadership in the two countries acts like a bull in a china shop, they should leapfrog to a much higher level.

India and the US have overcome the hesitation of history. None suspects a CIA hand in every disaster in India, as was the case in the 1960s, and every stand of India is not interpreted as a hangover of the Soviet era or the baggage of the Non-Aligned Movement. India has signed LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum of  Agreement) and COMCASA (Communication, Compatibility Security Agreement) and is discussing BECA (Basic Exchange & Cooperation Agreement). The US has designated India as a major defence partner and given it STA-1 (Strategic Trade Authorisation) status which will give it access to sophisticated technologies. Though India is still struggling to get into the NSG (Nuclear Suppliers’ Group) thanks to China’s opposition, the US has helped the former join the other three major groups: MTRC (Missile Technology Control Regime), Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) and the Australian Group (AG). These developments reflect the growing mutual trust and confidence of the two countries.

There is bipartisan support in the US Congress and the Senate for closer relations with India. The move of Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, and Senator John Cornyn, a Republican seeking an amendment to the US Arms Control Act to treat India on a par with NATO allies reflects this phenomenon.

When US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sets down for serious talks with his counterpart in New Delhi this week, India should offer some sweeteners to warm up the atmosphere. Let us reduce duty on the Harley Davidson motorcycle so dear to Trump’s heart; it won’t flood our market; we have so many of our own suited to different pockets. As the fifth largest economy currently witnessing fastest rate of growth of its GDP, India shouldn’t protect its industry excessively; we have seen the wonders foreign competition has done to our telecom and automobile sectors. Shouldn’t India reduce import duties on a host of products of mass consumption? Aren’t our duties higher than most of the members of the ASEAN? Keeping in mind the distress in the agricultural sector, we shouldn’t open it up. Similarly, in view of the social dimension, we shouldn’t decontrol the prices of stents, knee caps, generic drugs of mass use and other medicare items. The US should understand our domestic concerns.

India shouldn’t be begging for the restoration of GSP (Generalised System of Preferences); we should instead try exporting those Chinese products to the US which have become costlier because of higher tariffs and woo the exiting American companies to relocate in India by offering favourable terms.

It’s high time the US honours the letter and spirit of designating India as a strategic partner and major defence partner. Unless it shows sensitiveness to India’s vital needs, these high-sounding descriptions hardly matter. Extraterritorial application of CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) and asking India not to buy oil from Iran and S-400 defence cover from Russia hits, respectively, India’s energy security and national security interests. The US must offer long-term exemption or a workable alternative. India must not support any attempt at a regime change in Iran.

While India must strive to have the best of relations with the US to realise PM Modi’s vision of transforming India into a developed nation, it should neither surrender its strategic autonomy nor put all its eggs in America’s basket.