America is Making a Bad Bet on India

The cultivation of India as a strategic bulwark against a rising China has been a core feature of the Asia policy of successive U.S. administrations. 

New Delhi, some believed, served as a natural counterweight to Beijing. Like China, it had a billion-plus population, a fast-growing economy, and a large military, but it was also regarded as a liberal democracy that respected religious and other basic freedoms. India was seen as not only matching China’s key strengths but also sharing American values.

That image of India, on all fronts, was undeserved and is now unraveling. India today is not only on a path toward becoming an authoritarian, Hindu majoritarian state, but its economic engine is also sputtering, and its military will remain ill-equipped to balance China. Rather than serving as an ally or vital strategic partner, India may end up becoming a liability for the United States. As India chooses the path of diversification, or “multi-alignment,” in Asia, so too must the United States—especially in South Asia. 

The Laundering of Modi’s Image 

India’s rapid shift toward an overt Hindu majoritarian state was easily foreseeable, but many in Washington chose to ignore or obscure the obvious warning signs.  

When the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, many advocates of the U.S.-India relationship argued that this was a kinder, gentler version of the party. 

The then-incoming prime minister, Narendra Modi, had been a pariah figure for a decade after presiding over an anti-Muslim pogrom in 2002 as chief minister of the Gujarat state. But Modi’s sympathizers in Washington argued that he was a changed man—a Reaganesque figure who had since focused on economic development and reform. They pointed to Modi’s supposed pro-business policies and his inclusive 2014 campaign theme of “development for all.” 

Read the original article.

Powered by WPeMatico