Big regional issues top minister's agenda on US visit

India’s foreign secretary tells MARY FITZGERALD in New Delhi about strains with China, Pakistan and Afghanistan and how US relations…

India's foreign secretary tells MARY FITZGERALDin New Delhi about strains with China, Pakistan and Afghanistan and how US relations are 'flowering'

INDIA’S FOREIGN secretary, Nirupama Rao, is in the US this week for a series of meetings ostensibly aimed at laying the groundwork for US president Barack Obama’s forthcoming visit to Delhi, but the many challenges emanating from India’s troubled neighbourhood are also certain to be on the agenda.

Furthermore, Rao’s trip comes amid rumblings in Delhi that India-US ties under the Obama administration are somewhat lukewarm compared to the Bush era. Former foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh recently declared Obama’s November visit “critical” because “there were some doubts about whether Obama is as committed to India-US relations as Bush was”.

Speaking to The Irish Timesbefore she left for Washington, Rao dismissed suggestions that relations had cooled. "The strategic global partnership between India and America has really evolved . . . What you are seeing now is a flowering process and the recognition by the US of India's potential to be a world power and the fact that we share common values and very often common approaches to the evolving situation in the region.

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“Our co-operation on terrorism has really matured, our defence co-operation has grown, and we are constantly engaging with each other . . . this is a relationship in which there are many new wellsprings of co-operation that are being utilised and contributing to a very positive sum game.” Nonetheless, several observers detect wariness on Delhi’s part when it comes to Obama’s plans for dealing with the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, and the prospect of a military reduction.

“We would urge caution when it comes to any quick fixes to deal with the situation,” said Rao. “Given the fact there is terrorism, radical extremism and violence against the civilian population, it is essential that the international community stays engaged in Afghanistan.” The wider region, she said, must be alert to the dangers of a “regression” to the kind of situation that existed in Afghanistan before the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

“If you have an unstable situation there where these groups come back to basically hold sway, and terrorism is allowed to breed, it is going to have an impact on this region which will be very long term and that is not going to help global peace and security. Any country looking at the scenario in those terms would have to think very carefully before just abandoning Afghanistan or allowing some quick solution to be worked out.”

India offered $25 million (€19.1 million) in assistance to Pakistan following the devastating floods that ravaged the country last month, and Delhi is observing the fallout from the disaster with some concern.

“Our position all along is that we want a stable Pakistan. We would like Pakistan to grow economically, we would like the lives of [its] people get better, and obviously the extent of the [flood] damage and the impact is, as we see it, quite adverse,” Rao said.

“We hope they will be able to deal with this situation effectively and people can be rehabilitated and the economy is not affected in a way that would mean a backsliding or lack of progress on the fronts that are good for Pakistan.” Regarding the wider issue of India-Pakistan dialogue, Rao insists the perception of “extensive difficulty” during talks in July is misplaced.

“[We saw] a convergence of views on a number of areas that need to be focused on in terms of normalisation of the relationship,” she said. “There were issues about timing, the sequence in which we take this up, I’ll be frank about that, but there were not insurmountable difficulties.

“I don’t refute the fact that there is a deficit of trust, but we want to persevere with the dialogue and address that deficit.”

Delhi’s concerns about terrorism, and irritation over delays in bringing suspects in the 2008 Mumbai attacks to trial, have caused further strain.

“Pakistan needs to move with greater alacrity on the trials of those accused,” said Rao.

As a former ambassador to Beijing, Rao has some insight into the dynamics shaping the relationship between India and China. Aside from the obvious economic rivalry, border disputes and China’s ties with Pakistan have not helped. This week India’s defence minister warned of Beijing’s “increasing assertiveness” in the region.

“We are very alert to China’s growing capacity to project its military power, and its economic rise. When you couple these aspects with the reality of China being our neighbour, [it] creates a certain amalgam you cannot ignore,” said Rao.

Nevertheless, she describes the relationship as “stable” and the fastest-growing that India has with any country in terms of trade and economic links.

“I think both countries increasingly understand the realities of this relationship . . . they understand the fact that we will be increasingly compared with each other and that in the growth story both our countries are engaged in at the moment, there will be some degree of competition for resources as we seek to grow faster . . . I think to some extent it is good that we are alert to each other and constantly benchmarking against each other.” India, she argues, approaches China “with an open mind” and could even learn from Beijing in terms of its economic development.

India’s nuclear arsenal has come under the spotlight again this year. At the end of May’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, the UN asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without further delay and preconditions. Delhi has consistently rejected the NPT as “discriminatory” and instead pushes for universal nuclear disarmament. Regarding the CTBT, Delhi says it has its own “voluntary moratorium” on nuclear explosive testing.

“The world knows exactly where we stand on these issues,” said Rao. “I don’t believe India’s credentials can really be questioned in terms of its record on non-proliferation and its very clear adherence to the goals of universal non-discriminatory disarmament . . . Our track record is so unimpeachable.”