Former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Karl F Inderfurth, has told the US Congress that Washington should publicly support India's bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council, arguing that the India's case has never been stronger.
Inderfurth, testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia, at a hearing titled, 'Building a Strategic Partnership: US-India Relations in the Wake of Mumbai' said, "Enhanced US-India cooperation should also extend to the institutions of global governance. In this regard, the United States should publicly support India's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council and work actively with India and others to accomplish the goal of Security Council expansion."
"With its thriving democracy, its billion plus population, its expanding economy, and its longstanding contributions to UN peacekeeping, the case for a permanent Indian seat has never been stronger," he said.
Inderfurth said, "Dream big, should be the touchstone for the next stage in US-India relations, not only for our governments, but also for the equally powerful expansion of our private sectors and people ties that are taking place. Indeed as the recent space collaboration between the two countries on India's highly successful lunar mission demonstrates, even the old expression 'the sky's the limit,' should no longer apply to the possibilities that exist for what the United States and India can do together in the 21st century."
Inderfurth, who was among those privileged few who traveled with President Clinton, when he visited India in March 2000 on a five-day visit--the longest trip to India by any visiting US president--said, "Little did we know that today that visit is seen as a 'turning point' in US-India relations. After decades of being estranged democracies, Washington and New Delhi have entered a new era that can be best described as engaged democracies."
He said the "remarkable transformation in relations, started under Clinton, and accelerated under President George W Bush, is now set to continue its positive, upward trajectory under President Obama."
Inderfurth, currently a professor of International Affairs at George Washington University, who was a foreign policy adviser on South Asia to the Obama presidential campaign, said the transformation of US-India ties "has been an excellent example of policy continuity and bipartisanship in US foreign policy."
"Moreover," he added, "in each case, the incumbent US president found a willing and able Indian prime minister to partner with in this truly joint endeavor--from Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Manmohan Singh."
Inderfurth predicted that he was confident that "this will continue to be the case after India holds its national elections later this year." In terms of strengthening strategic ties, he told lawmakers that "a strong India is important for balance of power purposes in Asia and for providing stability in the strategically important Indian Ocean littoral area.There has been a quantum jump in US-India defense ties in the past several years--with joint military exercises, the signing of a 10-year defense framework agreement, and increased interest in defense procurement and collaboration between defense industries. These ties should be accelerated."
Inderfurth also said that in the wake of the horrific Mumbai terror attacks, greater strategic cooperation between New Delhi and Washington in counter-terrorism was a no-brainer and never been greater. "India has been a target of terrorist attacks longer than the United States, and we face common forces of extremism in today's world."
Thus, he argued that expanding counter-terrorism between both countries should cover the entire gamut to include "information sharing, building tighter liaison bonds between US and Indian intelligence and security services, and assisting India improve its counterterrorism capabilities."
Inderfurth's sentiments were echoed by former Central Intelligence Agency south Asia analyst Lisa Curtis, who was the other expert who testified before the Subcommittee who said the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, which also killed six Americans, "have provided new impetus to US-India counterterrorism cooperation."
While acknowledging that Washington and New Delhi "have expanded ties across a broad range of issues over the last several years," Curtis bemoaned that the two countries "have not yet taken full advantage of the tremendous opportunity to build an effective counterterrorism partnership to the benefit of both countries."
Curtis, currently, a Senior Research Fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said it goes without saying that "stronger US-India anti-terrorism cooperation will strengthen our overall strategic partnership and improve the safety and security of both Indian and American citizens."
And, the "centerpiece of this paradigm shift in relations was the completion of the civil nuclear deal last fall, an historic agreement that has removed a major irritant in US-India relations," she added.
Curtis argued that it was during the Bush Administration that US officials "broke the habit of viewing India solely through the India-Pakistan lens," and Washington "developed a greater appreciation for the Indian democratic miracle and viewed our shared democratic principles as the bedrock for a broader strategic partnership."
It was also during the Bush era, she asserted that "Washington began to view India's growth in power as a positive development for the balance of power in Asia."
With the advent of a Democratic administration after the eight-year Bush tenure, Curtis said, "There is some uncertainty whether the new Obama administration will maintain the current momentum in improving US-India ties."
She recalled 'Mr Obama's statements during last year's presidential campaign linking the resolution of the Kashmir conflict to the stabilization of Afghanistan," and said these remarks "have raised concerns in New Delhi that the new administration might revert back to policies that view India narrowly through the South Asia prism rather than as the emerging global power it has become."
On the imperative need for strong US-India counterterrorism cooperation, Curtis said both countries "should seek to overcome their trust deficit," where New Delhi's "suspicions revolve around the issue of Kashmir and US policy toward Pakistan, which has provided training, financing, and military and logistical support to militants fighting in Kashmir, who more recently have conducted attacks throughout India."
"In the past," she recalled, "India has been frustrated by what it viewed as inconsistencies and backsliding in US public statements concerning the Pakistan-based terrorist threat to India. Indian officials also believe the US has withheld information on terrorist operatives suspected of having ties to Kashmir militants."
Curtis said there was also a nagging suspicion among Indians that "the US has been reluctant to assist the Indian government with investigations related to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir to spare embarrassment to Pakistan, which has assisted Kashmiri militant groups, many of which are also connected to al Qaeda."
She hoped that "the convergence of US and Indian interests in Afghanistan could help to build confidence between Washington and New Delhi in terms of intelligence sharing, since both US forces and Indian interests have been targeted by the same terrorists."
Curtis exhorted the lawmakers that "conditioning military assistance to Pakistan is necessary to demonstrate that the US will not tolerate dual policies toward terrorists, and that there will be consequences for Pakistani leaders if elements of the security services provide support to terrorists.Such consequences are necessary to stem regional and global terrorism."