India needs US to become a global power

July 16, 2005

<h4>India needs US to become a global power: Mansingh (former Indian envoy to US)</h4>

newkerala ^ | 15 July, 2005 | Manish Chand

Asserting that India will never be a client state of the US, former Indian envoy Lalit Mansingh predicts a radical transformation of bilateral ties powered by New Delhi's ambition to be a global power with help from Washington.

"We need the friendship of the US to join the high table of international relations. We want infusions of US technology and investments in infrastructure. We want US support to be a major global power," Mansingh told IANS in an interview.

"India will not be a client state of the US. It will take an independent stand on all issues. If the Americans want us to fight their battles in Cuba, we will not go along with it. The Americans are not forcing us into anything," he stressed.

"There is an active as well as passive convergence of interests between India and the US. Passive convergence of interests centres on common liberal democratic values.

"Keeping sea-lanes free for international trade, energy quest, stopping illegal trade in narcotics, and the global war against terror are the key areas of strategic convergence between the two countries," said Mansingh.

"The US wants us to support these strategic objectives. There is nothing objectionable about them."

Allaying apprehensions about closer India-US ties in the context of the framework agreement on defence signed last month, he said: "The US and India are natural partners, not allies. We will never be an ally of the US or any other country."

Calling for a national consensus on pushing India-US relations to a new level, Mansingh stressed on a major shift in the friendship to what he called gut issues during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Washington beginning July 18.

"The focus has shifted from big ticket issues like space and civilian nuclear cooperation, nuclear defence and high technology to gut issues that directly affect the lives of millions of ordinary Indians and Americans," Mansingh said.

"We are now going to enter subjects that touch the lives of people. The focus is now on the new trinity of issues: infrastructure and investments in this crucial sector, energy dialogue and agriculture. For the first time, there is an agenda heavy with substance.

"The prime minister wants the US to be a partner in a second green revolution in the country. The focus will be on reviving links with the American universities to make Indian universities vibrant centres of learning. There is tremendous potential in the sharing of agriculture-related technologies," said Mansingh, who was foreign secretary before becoming India's ambassador in Washington in 2001. He served there for three years.

Mansingh is, however, skeptical about the growing buzz about a breakthrough in civilian nuclear cooperation during Manmohan Singh's visit.

"Emphasising the nuclear issue as a make-or-break issue is misplaced. This is mere symbolism. Coal is more important than nuclear energy," he said.

"In the field of nuclear cooperation, there is a possibility of headway on the supply of nuclear fuel.

"The US can give a green signal to the Nuclear Suppliers Group about selling nuclear fuel to India."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed during her India visit in March on partnering India during the common quest for energy.

Mansingh was at pains to understand "exaggerated anxieties and paranoia" about deepening relations with the US.

He compared the present turning point in India-US relations to 1971 when India signed the treaty of peace, friendship and cooperation with the former Soviet Union.

"There is something intriguingly familiar about the scene. The same fears were then voiced by the (Hindu rightwing) Sangh Parivar which are now expressed by the Left vis-à-vis relations with the US.

"But (Indira) Gandhi took a bold decision in the greater interest of India. We benefited from this relationship (with the Soviets) for 30 years," he added.

"There is a political consensus in the US on the relationship with India. There is no matching consensus in India on a major transformation of relations with the US. This gap has to be bridged."