Modi Addressed the US Congress

Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi addressed the joint session of the US Congress last week. It was Modi’s fourth visit to the US and his second bilateral visit after being the PM. Modi had developed a personal rapport with Obama, who became the first US President to visit India twice while in office. Their chae pe charcha in New Delhi in 2015 was covered widely by the media. 

Modi talked about the commonality between the two countries. While the US is the oldest democracy, India is the largest. Both are diverse countries. Both have stakes in a world free from terrorism and religious extremism. Perhaps unlike his predecessors, Modi is keen to display India’s soft power, and also use it as a leverage to promote India's interests. While addressing the Congress, Modi pointed out how Yoga is practiced by 30 million people in the USA, but India, where it originated, did not patent it! He also mentioned the historical connections between the two countries. Swami Vivekananda came to Chicago in 1893 to deliver the historic speech at the World Parliament of Religions. The relatively unknown Swami became world famous after Chicago. It is said that one of the great contributions of the US to India was Swami Vivekananda. Modi also mentioned B. R. Ambedkar, who studied at Columbia University, and how he was influenced by the US constitution, and applied it to the Indian situation as the Chair of the Drafting Committee of the Indian Constitution. The US also played a role in the Indian independence. Some of the Indian freedom fighters were based in the USA, and some of the US leaders were sympathetic to Indian freedom struggle. Modi also mentioned how Martin Luther King. Jr was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi. He struck an emotional chord with the Indian diaspora by arguing how the demography played a key role in the growth of the US, and how the Indian-American teenagers were winning spelling bee competition.

The speech received mixed reviews, some terming it full of ‘cliché,’ some terming it marking the dawn of a new era, and others maintaining a middle position. The strategic commentators differ on the actual depth of the relationship, and also on the actual outcome. Some of them argue that the US still hesitates to consider India as an equal partner, and they refer to defense talks and outcomes and argue that the US wants to use India to fulfil its objectives in countering China and strengthen its strategic position in the Asia-Pacific. Some others argue that the two countries have come out of their ‘history of hesitation’ and become ‘natural allies’. They point out that the US is one of the largest trading partners of India, and there is a growing defense partnership between the two countries. Some of them also refer to the Indian diaspora in the US and their bridge-building role.

I do not agree that Modi's speech was replete with cliché. Without commitment to shared goals, it is difficult to build strong relations. Democratic polity and liberal values of the two countries inspired many countries, and still inspire many others. Though during the Cold War the relations were marked by hostility due to ideological differences, the post-Cold War era witnessed growth in the relations. To forge a strong relationship, both India and the US need to come forward and shed old differences and approaches. The US needs to address India’s concerns on the issue of terrorism from India’s neighbourhood, or on sharing of defense technology, dispelling Indian concerns on stability in Eurasia and other areas. India also needs to be pro-active, and be more willing to play leadership role in troubled regions of the world, and address the US concerns. There are immense potentials for India-US cooperation. The major areas include strategic cooperation; energy and climate change, education and development; economy, trade and agriculture; science and technology; and health and innovation. As Asia-Pacific is becoming increasingly unstable, both can jointly play a role to make it stable by collaborating with the neighboring countries. 

The invitation to Modi to address the Congress was a reflection of the US seriousness to engage India. Modi’s words reflected India’s seriousness to do business with the US. With the baggage of hesitation and misunderstanding going away, both the countries are set to realize common goals. There is nothing to lose, but to gain, from the cooperation. The cost of non-cooperation are certainly high than the cost of cooperation. The leadership of both the countries appear to realize this. A lot will depend on how the next US government views India. I hope, whichever party wins the next elections, the drivers guiding the relations remain the same, if not change for better.    

Emerging Paradigm in Asia-Pacific

The meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders at Istana, Singapore on 14th and 15th of November 2009 called for a ‘balanced, inclusive, and sustainable growth.’ Under the theme of ‘sustaining growth, connecting the region,’ the 21-member body including the powerful economies of the world vowed at the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting (AELM) to coordinate policies towards ushering in a free trade regime, which will operate in a climate without restrictions. However, the meeting that took place in the midst of global recession appeared to have ended up in high scale rhetoric without much substance. But the summit in its utterances and proceeding brought into focus certain new developments that are likely to shape global economy in coming years.
Broadly speaking, the summit brought into focus two broader but incipient developments of the emerging global economy. The first is global in character and more pertains to economy, while the second dimension pertains to the domain of regional politics in the Asia-Pacific. At least from a symbolic point of view, the summit called for an inclusive, balanced and sustainable growth of the global economy. The recession has unveiled the fractured nature of global economy, subordinated by protectionism and other trade barriers. As a result when the economy stumbled in the US, the effect was felt throughout the globe. Interestingly while the West particularly the US suffered heavily due to the recession, the east Asian countries like China registered high economic growth in these periods. But, the point is that due to the skewed global financial system with unbalanced tariff measures, protectionism, trade restrictions, the global economic rules and practices have become unfair. The APEC leaders in a statement emphasized on a ‘strategy that supports more balanced growth within and across economies, achieves greater inclusiveness in our societies and sustains our environment.’ Hence, the call for an inclusive global financial system makes sense especially in the height of global recession.
Protectionism is another issue raised by the participants in the summit. Chinese President Hu Jintao pointed out how the protectionist measures by the developed countries like the US needs to be revoked, to allow the operation of free market economy as per the rules of the market. The US recently imposed tariffs on Chinese goods like glossy papers, phosphates, steel pipes and tires. Currently there is no global regime that oversees the free run of the market economy in the world, which as a result restricts development of developing economies. The Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who chaired the summit, called for the need to open markets and lower tariffs and restrictions to allow fair competition in Asia. The members also agreed on the need for structural reforms for operation of free market economy. Hence, the APEC voice on curbing the protectionist measures is a welcome move in the direction of balanced global economic growth.
One of the most pressing global issues of the climate change was, however, relegated to the backburner in the summit. Though an earlier draft emphasized that the summit will take up the issue of climate change towards evolving a common agreement, it could not take place. The participants failed to give any commitment to reduce emission of green house gases to a particular target. The supposed common agreement on climate change was left halfway to be further deliberated at Copenhagen summit on climate change. It is doubtful whether Copenhagen summit will help evolve a consensus on the issue.
Besides these broader issues the summit meeting needs to be analyzed in view of some prominent trends in the region. China is going to be the most important player in the region. In the current trend of development, China is going to replace Japan to be the second largest economy in the world. And also due to its military might, geographical proximity, bilateral trade in surge with other countries, China will likely be in an advantageous position in comparison to the US in the region. Some of the attempts by the US to salvage its downward economy came starkly into the picture during the recent ASEAN+US summit. The US President Barack Obama’s call to ASEAN countries to export US goods in order to create jobs in the US, his appeal to join the Trans- Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP, currently comprise Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei and Chile), and to China to strengthen its yuan with dollar, indicate the attempt of the US to boost its badly hit economy. Reportedly, China has kept yuan at about 6.83 per dollar since July 2008. The US has argued an undervalued yuan contributes to imbalances in bilateral trade. Interestingly due to China’s opposition the monetary issue was not deliberated upon in the Asia-Pacific summit. In an attempt to maintain cordial economic relations, Obama visited China on 16 November 2009 reportedly to assuage Chinese apprehensions about the US restrictions on trade and to boost bilateral economic relations.
The recent Obama tour of east Asia is an indication of the US attempts to reverse the diminishing clout of the US in the region. The south east Asian nations are implementing the free trade area agreement in January 2010, which may likely expand to ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and South Korea) in near future. Similarly, as some analysts observe, it may further lead to free trade between ASEAN+6 (besides +3, India, Australia and New Zealand), which may further dent the US influence in the region. China’s trade with the ASEAN has grown almost 20-fold since 1993, with its share of total ASEAN commerce rising to 10.5 per cent from 2 per cent.
The latest summit meeting of APEC, which currently accounts for about 55 per cent of global output and 40 per cent of the world’s population, in itself did not pronounce something substantial but the overall scenario in which it took place is indicative of the new paradigm emerging in the scene of Asia-Pacific with global ramifications.