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Home / Opinion / Columns / A narrow focus on bilateral ties produces a shallow Indian debate on America

A narrow focus on bilateral ties

produces a shallow Indian
debate on America
What stands out from our debates on Biden policies is India’s regrettable
under-investment in the study of US society, its political economy and
international relations.

Written by C. Raja Mohan | Updated: November 10, 2020 8:41:38 am

What stands out from our debates on Biden policies is India’s regrettable under-investment in the study
of US society, its political economy and international relations. (Illustration by C R Sasikumar)

The extraordinary and popular Indian interest in the US elections can be attributed,
at least in part, to the growing engagement between the two countries over the last
couple of decades. But so long as the widening interface between the two societies
is not matched by a greater awareness of America’s complex internal dynamics,
multiple misperceptions will continue to define India’s public discourse on the US.

One is the illusion that Indians have a say in the US elections. That might be
explained by the prolonged spectacle that the US presidential election has become
and the endless speculation on what’s in it for India. Notwithstanding the growing
number of Indian-American voters and the historic significance of Kamala Harris, it
is important to remember that the elections are about American and not Indian
politics.

Since the US occupies so much of our mind space, it is easy to believe that America
might be spending a lot of time thinking about India. America indeed matters to
India, and everyone else in the world, more than any one of us matters to the US.
That is because the US is the dominant power in the international system and even
minor shifts in its policies have big implications for others. But the reverse is not
true.
Editorial | Biden begins with an advantage at home and abroad. How he turns
that opportunity into policy outcomes remains to be seen

That brings us to that perennial debate about who is good for India — Donald
Trump or Joe Biden? Republicans or Democrats? These are interesting but
inconsequential questions, since India’s preference can’t make a difference to the
electoral outcome in the US. What is relevant is the reality that India, like all other
countries, has no option but to deal with whoever is elected to the White House.

The US presidential election this year has unfortunately got enmeshed with India’s
internal political contestations. Trump’s defeat is being interpreted by some as a
setback for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi because Delhi has invested so
much in the relationship with the Trump administration. To make it even more
interesting, there is much speculation that Biden might be nursing a grievance
against Modi because the Indian PM was buttering up Trump at the “Howdy Modi”
rally in Houston last fall. Biden has far too much on his plate to waste time plotting
on how to get even with Modi for saying “Abki bar, Trump Sarkar”.

This debate tells us more about the divisions within India and how they colour our
judgements of other societies. Some in Delhi hope and others fear that the US
Congress has the wisdom or the power to set right India’s internal problems. Those
who are hopeful or anxious about critical comments from a section of the
Democratic Party’s legislators about Kashmir and the Citizenship Amendment Act
tend to overdetermine the weight of these concerns in the conduct of the US foreign
policy towards India.

Like Biden, the US Congress has multiple domestic issues, including systemic
racism, to handle, before putting the Modi government in the dock. While some in
Congress — the House of Representatives has 435 members and the Senate 100 —
focus on human rights and religious freedom, others want to open India’s market
and deepen greater bilateral defence cooperation. The US Congress is a vibrant
legislature where all kinds of interests and ideas find vigorous articulation.

Explained: What does President-elect Joe Biden mean for India, its relationship
with the US?
Congress is an important part of the US government, but only some of the ideas
debated there translate into Washington’s policies. The last two decades have seen
strong support from the US Congress to the executive on strengthening all-round
cooperation with India. There is no reason to see that changing under the next
President and Congress, if Delhi stays engaged with both.

While enduring national interests drive American foreign policy towards India,
personal and subjective factors are quite important in the routine conduct of
international relations. If personnel is policy, Delhi starts out on a good footing with
President Biden.

Those who remember the twists and turns of the historic civil nuclear initiative
during 2005-08, will fondly recall the role of Senator Biden in mobilising the much-
needed congressional support for India in Washington at critical junctures that
demanded urgent legislative action. Equally important are the personnel manning
the ramparts of the US foreign and security policy under Biden. Many individuals
expected to take up top positions under Biden have worked with him when he was
Vice President in the Obama Administration. The Indian establishment is familiar
with most of them.

Two professionals being mentioned for Biden’s Secretary of State —Antony Blinken
and William Burns — have worked closely with the Indian government on a range
of issues during the Obama years. Susan Rice, another candidate, was Obama’s
national security adviser in the second term and was envoy to the UN in the first.
Michele Flournoy, who could well become the first woman to head the Pentagon,
served as the Under Secretary of Defence in the Obama years and was very much
involved in strengthening security cooperation with India.

Most of the other sub-cabinet officials too would come from the Obama stable or
the Congressional staff. Thanks to India’s wider and deeper engagement with the
US in the last two decades, India will find a lot of familiar faces across the
administration.

While the Indian public discourse focuses on such exciting issues like Biden’s
thoughts on the “Howdy Modi” rally, the government is hopefully preparing to deal
with the consequential issues at the top of the new Administration’s agenda — trade
and economic security for the US, climate change, health security, and rebuilding
alliances. China figures prominently in all of them.

What stands out from our debates on Biden policies is India’s regrettable under-
investment in the study of US society, its political economy and international
relations. The public focus is naturally on bilateral relations and on the
developments of the day. As the American salience continues to rise for India, Delhi
badly needs the capacity to analyse the structural forces shaping US policies.

Opinion | Saikat Majumdar writes: Current suspicion of higher education in

US may outstay Trump

A narrow focus on bilateral ties produces a shallow Indian debate on America. A

better understanding of the deeper forces animating America helps us deal more
productively with the United States.

Russia and China have invested quite heavily in academic and policy research on
the US. If the Russians inherited a large structure from the Soviet Union, China has
systematically built-up American Studies as a discipline in its universities and think
tanks in the last three decades.

India went the other way. Just as relations with the US began to take off, India shut
down a premier institute — the American Studies Research Centre at Osmania
University, Hyderabad. When the US funding for the ASRC stopped in the late 1990s,
India could not find the resources to sustain it. Maybe Delhi can revive that
institution or start building a new one devoted to the study of the United States. For
America today is India’s most important international partner, and the connections
between our two societies are getting thicker by the day.

This article first appeared in the print edition on November 10, 2020 under the
title ‘Misreading the Biden moment’. The writer is director, Institute of South
Asian Studies, National University of Singapore and a contributing editor on
international affairs for The Indian Express

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TAGS: US Elections 2020

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