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| Long-term nuclear interests of US in South Asia | | | Dr.Rajkumar Singh | 11/25/2019 10:38:26 PM |
| The US always takes serious interest in Indo-Pak non-proliferation because India-Pakistan proliferation dynamics directly impinge on the US-Middle East concerns and interests which have normally been deemed vital due to their connection with access to Persian Gulf oil. Consequently, the proliferation of nuclear weapons in South Asia would have profound implications for US national security interest. Stephen P. Cohen, a renowned American expert on South Asia, held the view that the US non-proliferation interests fall into or touch upon three different areas. Firstly, there are purely nuclear related concerns that include slowing down or controlling regional military nuclear programmes by stemming or stopping the flow of nuclear materials and technology to India and Pakistan, ensuring that they do not aid other states with their nuclear military programmes, seeing to it that the South Asian example of creeping proliferation is not emulated or admired elsewhere. Secondly, to contain Russian and Chinese influence in South Asia. Finally, there are a number of regional American interests at stake. American policy since 1947, favoured the emergence of a stable and cooperative South Asia Regional System-based upon Indian and Pakistani cooperation so that all regional states might better solve their pressing economic and development problems.
Themes of US nuclear policy
In fact from beginning the US non-proliferation policy in the sub- continent has been discriminatory. It has not only adopted a permissive approach towards Pakistan's nuclear programme but also has favoured the emergence of a nuclear Pakistan and denied that Pakistan's nuclear programme has gone ahead under the overall patronage of the United States. Even many Americans agree that the US government did not take the desired steps to halt Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme in time, in spite of adequate information in that regard. On the other hand, the legislative measures that would have been taken were postponed several times through narrow interpretations of the legal provisions. Unlike Pakistan, India's nuclear programme has little US influence. It has never remained the US military ally or strategic partner or has it ever entered into security agreement with America.
Effects on India
Partially, in response to India's nuclear detonation, the Congress passed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978. Invoking this act, Carter administration had to suspend altogether the supply of nuclear fuel for Tarapur Atomic Power Station after the expiry of three years grace period in 1981. By doing so Washington attempted to use its leverage with respect to those fuel supply to compel Delhi to accept full scope safeguards. India has also been pressed to participate in multilateral conference on non-proliferation and regional security in South Asia which would have the main agenda of pressurising India and Pakistan to cap their nuclear programme. A re cent US re po rt on Progress To wards Regional No n- Proliferation in South Asia said, 'The US seeks to combat nuclear, c h e m i c a l a n d b i o l o g i c a l w e a p o n s a n d b a l l i s t i c m i s s i l e proliferation in South Asia and to prelude either a nuclear or missile arms race. Our objective is first to cap then reduce and finally eliminate the possession of weapons of mass destruction and their means of deliver However, be it the Indo-Pak war of 1965, 1971 or 1999 at Kargil, Big Brothers had been the ultimate arbiter of peace in South Asia. In 1965, Pakistan looked for US support in the United Nations Security Council for the resolution calling for an end to hostilities as the Pakistani effort was rapidly grinding to a halt for lack of ammunition and supplies. In 1971, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger told Pakistani leaders facing war with India that seeking US help at that juncture was tantamount to the US being asked to be in on the crash landing when it was not in on the take off.
US liberal policy and Pakistan
Thus, the US helped Pakistan by preventing India from attack. And the recent fighting in Kargil had again involved the US active diplomacy as Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sought and got the help of American President on July 4th, 1999. Pakistan's decision to withdraw from Kargil was resulted in a military coup in the country with the rule of General Pervez Musharraf. But it is not unusual for the US administration and Congress to speak in different voices on a variety of issues. Particularly with regard to South Asia, the US Congress, by and large, had expressed itself in favour of developing a strategic partnership with India and urging a tough line towards the military regime in Pakistan, while the Clinton administration echoed the need for a swift return to democracy in Islamabad and at the same time, pointed to the folly of "Walking away from Pakistan. Perhaps, the Pentagon seemed unable to prevent its mind-set being tinged by the legacy of its past close relations with the Pakistani armed forces, particularly during the heady days when Islamabad was the willing conduit for massive arms transfers to the Mujahideen battling and coercion are at the heart of international relations theory. Especially, in a relationship between a great power and smaller power outside the framework of alliances and collective security, it is a thorny task to build and sustain close cooperation as is evidenced in case of Indo-US relations. This type of relationship is crucial for the smaller power to fashion a diplomatic strategy with a clear set of goals an d realistic expectations to advance it s interests in a relationship between unequals. Reasons for seeking closer ties with the United States were many. It is expected to remain the world's pre-eminent power in the foreseeable future. America's importance to India has been accentuated by the continuing decline of Russia, the rise of an increasingly powerful and assertive China still inimical to Indian interests, the erosion of Japan's economic superpower status, and the emergence of an imbalance of power in Asia. Even as most other powers seek a multi-polar world, unipolarity is getting stronger, with the US riding a major economic boom at home and dominating global information. As a superpower, the US role and actions in Southern Asia in the past impacted adversely on India's interests and in the years ahead, is expected to be the most active outside power in this region. The United States is in a position to help improve or worsen Indian security. It is thus important that Indian diplomacy should focus not on tactical, short-term gains but on building a stable, enduring relationship in which there is no significant conflict of interest between the two countries. This demands a foreign policy rooted not so much in a US-friendly approach but in realism, long-term vision and specific aims. |
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