Govt dumps policy of non-alignment

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 30

Even as the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) between India and the US has got China and Pakistan worried, the Narendra Modi government, without dithering, has gone ahead and cemented ‘closer’ ties with the US, snubbing its old ally Russia and discarding the Nehruvian philosophy of non-alignment.

The US recognises India as a major defence partner and the latest agreement gives it an advantage it had long been seeking to check the rise of an aggressive China. Though the text of the agreement is not yet in the public domain, it gives the US armed forces reciprocal logistical support that can be used exclusively during authorised port visits, joint exercises, joint training and humanitarian assistance. 

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This had, of course, been a sensitive matter with the Opposition criticising the government’s overdrive towards sealing the pact. The original agreement was called Logistics Security Agreement (LSA) and both Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been wary of signing it.  

The BJP has, however, come a long way since 1998 when Vajpayee shocked the world by asserting India’s global power by conducting three underground (Pokhran) nuclear tests — a move that was condemned by the then US President Bill Clinton and which led to economic sanctions against India. The feeling then was that India’s deference to US pressures had put India at the risk of never being able to achieve its potential as a nuclear power. Now in 2016, the Indian Government wants to ‘partner’ with the US in achieving its potential. The LSA, to which there was fierce opposition by various parties, has been tweaked into LEMOA. But the biggest concern is that this defence agreement may eventually lead to the stationing of US troops in India. Though the government has been quick to dismiss these fears, the agreement unmistakenly has political shades. It is expected that the US will push harder for India’s entry into the NSG in exchange for LEMOA. 

The agreement is significant, in the sense that it radically changes India’s ties with major world powers.That the government has dumped the Nehruvian policy of non-alignment and moved towards unipolarity (a distribution of power in which one country primarily exercises cultural, economic and military influence) is evident from Modi's decision to skip the NAM summit in Venezuela.