Modi-Trump as the Global Counter-Terrorism Force
Both President Trump and PM Modi have found wide acceptance on their pledge of boosting national security and keeping the interests of their own citizens ahead of others.
Source: https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/2/25/Modi-Trump-as-the-Global-Counter-Terrorism-Force.html
Climate change is indeed a challenge
and so is the global economic slowdown. But what is that one thing which
poses an imminent threat to the civilized world of today? Terrorism, it
is. The 9/11 attacks on the US soil, terror attack on the Indian
Parliament in 2001, 2008 Mumbai attacks and many other acts of terrorism
on foreign missions of the US and other critical sites are all a part
of the bigger conspiracy. Virtually all these attacks were planned and
executed by Islamist forces that treat both the West and the
Hindu-majority India as their prime adversaries. But in the end, terror
produces no gains for the perpetrators. In fact, warring factions have
made such countries as Syria, Iraq and Libya failed nations. The US-led
forces have decisively rid the Middle East region of the fundamentalist
forces led by ISIS.
In
this light, we are to see the first visit of the US President Donald
Trump to India. Trump will be in the world’s largest democracy, one can
also say the world’s largest market in the same breath, for nearly 36
hours with his visits to the Sabarmati Ashram, the newly-built Motera
Stadium and Rajghat consuming much of the newsroom discussions. This
comes in the backdrop of many things that matter to India. For example,
Trump has not been very kind to India with respect to tariffs and even
termed us ‘tariffs king’. The country’s special status under the
Generalised System of Preferences was revoked last year and tariffs on
our exports of steel and other goods were hiked. At the same time, Trump
sought Indian market access for the US dairy and agriculture products.
That India levies a 100 percent import duty on Harley Davidson
motorcycles became the talk of the town when Trump complained of it.
But
should the citizens of both the countries and the news media be
concerned about India and the US bilateral trade alone? Take this for
example- the US has a trade deficit with India, which means we buy less
than what we sell them, and hence India shouldn’t be considering trade
as primary when US-India relations are talked about; similarly, the US
has trade deficit with many other nations, and India is way down in this
list that has China at the top. Trade, of course, is an important issue
for discussion between the two leaders but as stressed earlier, it is
terrorism, regional security and related themes that should lead the
agenda. And there are valid reasons for this.
That
India’s neighbour and world’s second largest economy, China, is
reviving its ancient Silk Road has been a topic covered by many
international publications. There is a consensus among all critics that
the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is nothing but trapping smaller
nations into debt that is being extended in the name of infrastructure
development by Chinese government or state-run banks. This not only has
repercussions for countries participating in the BRI but also for
outsiders including India and the US. China now has a military support
base in Djibouti and the dragon’s hold in Sri Lanka is no secret. This
and China’s unfailing support to Pakistan are India’s topmost security
concerns. And that China is quietly tightening its control over the
South China Sea by undermining the interests of other nations is
upsetting the United States. China’s communist model has always irked
the US, a sworn capitalist power.
![Modi Trump_1 H Modi Trump_1 H](https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/2/25/2_05_31_21_Modi-Trump_1_H@@IGHT_350_W@@IDTH_650.jpg)
It
is against this backdrop that we need to look at Trump’s visit. Both
President Trump and PM Modi have found wide acceptance in their home
countries on their pledge of boosting national security and keeping the
interests of their own citizens ahead of others. Trump won the
presidential poll on the promise of curbing illegal migration to the US
from its southern border and Modi’s party pitch is on similar lines. And
there is a convincing rationale. Undocumented migrants not only lay
their claims on the already-scarce resources, they undermine national
security. And this, at a time of heightened dose of Islamist
fundamentalism propagated by India’s staunch adversary Pakistan, cannot
be overlooked. In fact, there have been many reforms by India that have
been loudly protested against by Pakistan in multilateral forums;
however, there were no takers of Pakistan’s outcry. The abrogation of
Article 370 to assimilate Jammu and Kashmir with mainstream India is an
example.
On
the other side, the US has time and again proved to be a guardian of
democratic principles and human rights. Pakistan has on several
occasions been reprimanded for its support to terror groups by the Trump
administration. When China made all possible efforts to thwart India’s
bid to list Masood Azhar as global terrorist by the United Nations, it
was the backdoor diplomacy of the US that came to India’s rescue.
Similarly, the interests of the US and its allies in the Indian Ocean
region are safe as long as India remains a formidable contender to
China’s growing military might. Pakistan has been a breeding ground for
many transnational terror groups and it is India alone that can contain
such activities. The country doesn’t shy away from hitting the
belligerents inside their safe havens and the surgical strikes by the
Indian armed forces were widely lauded by the international community.
It was for a reason that the US firmly steered clear of any criticism or
condemnation of these strikes.
Lately,
the US has come up with Blue Dot Network, a global infrastructure
development initiative. Announcing the same at the Indo-Pacific Business
Forum last year, the US made it clear that the same will be a
multi-stakeholder project with Japan and Australia already on board. But
is Blue Dot a direct challenge to BRI? Probably, yes. While China has
been using coercive methods and its debt trap to lure nations, Blue Dot
is the US way to persuade countries in the region to partner with
progressive forces that will fund infra projects on transparent terms
and have environmental concerns and labour practices as parameters to
grade them. Sans India, however, the Blue Dot Network is anything but
complete. Trump's visit can take this agenda forward.
All
that said, the ultra-practical President of the US, who doesn’t mince
words in reprimanding his western allies for not contributing enough
money to keep NATO going, knows what he wants from India. It is for a
cause why he has been showing unprecedented enthusiasm for a week ahead
of his India visit. India, he knows is as much a soft-power force, both
Google and Microsoft heads are Indian-born, as it is a hard power. One
of the biggest importer of arms, although India has never been the first
mover when it comes to conflicts, India is not only a market for US
weapons but also the long-trusted geopolitical partner. More than the
trade deals that President Trump will sign with Modi while in India, it
will be the behind-the-scenes understanding and pledges of both leaders
that will shape the future course for both democracies. For
fundamentalism, terrorism and neo-colonialism of China to be capably
tackled, the world needs the Modi-Trump combine.
(Author is a Financial Consultant and writes on current affairs and geo-politics)
Source: https://www.organiser.org/Encyc/2020/2/25/Modi-Trump-as-the-Global-Counter-Terrorism-Force.html
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