14.08 We Are Very Pragmatic People - Independent Expert on India

As India celebrates its 68th Independence Day on August 15, most observers focus on its economic progress. The country is ranked the world’s tenth largest by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). This fiscal year the economy is expected to grow at 5.2-5.7 per cent, and according to UN 2013 figures,  the foreign direct investment (FDI) into India grew by 17 per cent   to $28 billion.

Little wonder that now all eyes are on India, trying to guess what direction the new Indian government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen for the country.

The US top officials have made a special point of coming over to New Delhi over the past month. US Secretary of State John Kerry visited India at the end of July, followed by the US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Independent expert Dr Harinder Sekhon, based in New Delhi, India, is evaluating the prospects for India-US relations.

“Chuck Hagel’s visit was a part of the US-India strategic dialog, which has been an ongoing dialog for a number of years now. Chuck Hagel came following Secretary Kerry’s visit to India. Ever since Modi has become the Prime Minister, India has been getting the impression that we are getting wooed by the US, because there is a great deal of concern, considering that the relations had really started faltering and had somewhat plateaued during the last few months of the earlier Government in India, when we had the UPA Government, the Manmohan Singh Government.

And the lowest point in the US-India relations was reached in December last year, when the famous Devyani Khobragade, the Indian diplomat was arrested and strip-searched in NY and her domestic helper’s family was flown out of India. I mean, they were Indian citizens and they were flown out of India, using the American taxpayers money, which, rightly so, has caused a great deal of anger and resentment amongst the Indian Government and the Indian establishment, and the Indian people.

And we were getting the feeling that the US thought that it could dictate certain terms to us. But with the coming of Modi I think they are taking us a little more seriously, more so especially the manner in which Modi had been treated since 2005. He’d been denied a visa. And it is the Americans who started seeking him out, when it became apparent that there was some kind of a BJP waving in there and there would be a change of government over here. And from the Indian side, from the BJP’s side and the India Government there was nothing of the sort that – please, give the Prime Minister a visa. So, it was President Obama who called him up and they were the ones who’ve been seeking for better relations with India.

And of course, we are very pragmatic people and we would like to have good relations with every country. And we got a very nice traditional thing with the USSR and it is continued with Russia. With China, India does not want to be used as a bulwark against any country. And we would like to keep the options open and have really good relations within our neighborhood. So, that extends to East Asia, China, Russia and, of course, the US.

But coming more specifically to the US-India strategic dialog in Kerry’s visit, earlier we were getting the feeling that America is only paying sympathy and saying that India is the most important partner for the 21st century. But America was talking very big without putting anything on the ground. And now, I think they realized that this is a very serious Government.

And I was in Washington in June and spoke at the Council on Foreign Relations, and made it very clear that Modi is very pragmatic, he is not going to do anything to upset the US or to break off, or make things difficult, or create any hurdles in the US-India relations. But, at the same time, he