Today’s conversation will be discussing U.S. Policy towards South Asia, specifically India.
We started with a Jon Stewart clip about Indian President Modi and a general overview of who he is.
Discussion: During our last discussion, we talked about China. One issue that came up was the idea of an emerging rivalry for power in Asia. We looked at a map of “The String of Pearls”, a series of ports being constructed in the Indian Ocean by China. How do you interpret this issue if you are India?
Question: Should India turn towards China, the U.S., Japan, etc.?
Modi
Small Group Discussion Questions:
We started with a Jon Stewart clip about Indian President Modi and a general overview of who he is.
Discussion: During our last discussion, we talked about China. One issue that came up was the idea of an emerging rivalry for power in Asia. We looked at a map of “The String of Pearls”, a series of ports being constructed in the Indian Ocean by China. How do you interpret this issue if you are India?
- India views it through a suspicious lens - why would China be doing this? India would try to respond by asserting dominance in the region and gaining partners in the region.
- Should India try to respond?
- If you look at the land borders, India has a fairly long border with China, and there have been tensions over where that border lies. There was a war in the early 1960’s over this border, and in September there were more tensions.
- This is the highest border in the world - 30,000 feet above sea level. Not a highly productive place. The economic impacts of this region have to do with a Northeast pass on the India-China border.
- Beijing and Islamabad have a close relationship → this makes India nervous.
- India’s interests in border disputes: symbolic, because there is nothing in the border area and because they don’t want Pakistan to have easy access to China. India is worried that terrorist areas will be emboldened if given access to China.
- US and China see working with Pakistani government as a good way to work against terrorism. For example, the US sells arms to the Pakistani government every year.
- This action has been criticized, because we’ve seen other instances of state-sponsored terrorism in countries that we’ve supplied. Could Pakistan devolve into this?
Question: Should India turn towards China, the U.S., Japan, etc.?
- Turn towards outside power: U.S. or Japan - because India feels threatened by China
- Is there a choice here, or can India reconcile with China?
- India’s development does not have to be polarized - can be China and the U.S., not one or the other
- Trade volume of India-U.S. has shrunk since 2000, India-China has grown
- India has been looking for other players in the region: Vietnam and Japan, both of whom China is not friends with
- Discussed with Japanese President Abe - bringing better infrastructure into India
Modi
- Former governor of Gujarat - economic model region for India
- Could his leadership propel India’s economy to new heights?
- Economically will improve mightily, but has to improve social state of India
- Was banned in 2005 from U.S. - does this picture of him threaten economic growth?
- How do Modi’s business-friendly views fit in India’s picture of poverty and subsidies to care for the poor?
- There are more people in crippling poverty in India than in Sub-Saharan Africa. Can Modi bring about equality while still making India more open to the outside world?
- India has strong human capital, especially in the field of technology → Modi wants policies of deregulation in order to expose human capital to the world. This could potentially boost India’s economy.
- Tensions with Pakistan: cut off dialogue between the two countries, this month has been the bloodiest month in the region of Kashmir (close to China and Pakistan - highly disputed)
- Siachen Glacier region has been disputed for a very long time. It is majority Islamic - Pakistan wants the region because it sees itself as an Islamic nation, India sees itself as a multi denominational country.
- Pakistan’s nuclear program is almost entirely sponsored by China, and it is currently increasing its nuclear stockpile faster than any other nation.
- Is Modi’s recent fortification of Kashmir a defensive move or more of an offensive?
- Both, because Pakistan is increasing its nuclear arsenal, but it also doesn’t send a friendly message to Pakistan.
- Not intentionally offensive; Modi wants to keep population supporting him by doing what they have wanted in the past.
- Using economic leverage to get more support from Kashmir and appease the Pakistani’s - visited the region to offer an aid package to be rolled out within the next few weeks
- **Economic integration**
- Low voter turnout in Kashmir, unhappy with current government because of the way they dealt with floods in the region
- Shift in Pakistan back to military government from Sharif government → more militants passing into India from Pakistan
- Conflicting national identities in Kashmir region because of distance from Pakistan
Small Group Discussion Questions:
- If India and Pakistan were to conflict, how should the U.S. respond? Does this issue impact U.S. policies? Would we militarize?
- What do the future of India-China relations look like? If they did go bad, where would the U.S. side?