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| India-Pakistan |
| East Meets West |
| 2006-11-11 |
| by Greg Sheridan I was greeted in March 2006 by Manmohan Singh in a small sitting room in the quite modest prime minister’s bungalow in New Delhi. The prime minister of India wore a broad smile, for he had just days before concluded a revolutionary nuclear deal with George W. Bush. Probably outside of Israel, no foreign capital is as pro-Bush as Delhi. Singh was basking in the glory of the Bush deal. Indeed, India’s political and strategic elite, even more than America’s, understands the epic nature of the new strategic relationship with Washington. It has been rightly compared with Nixon’s opening to China in the 1970s. It’s different in many ways, but it has the same potential to reshape almost all geostrategic equations, particularly those involving China. The economist academic who happens to be India’s prime minister is still not really a politician—that’s one of Singh’s great strengths—but he was prepared to accept a little gentle praise for the Bush deal. In Washington, there is much (reasonably justified) self-congratulation over the India initiative, which is rightly seen as a masterstroke, but America has scarcely recognized India’s own complex and many-faceted motivations for entering the new relationship. One, which political correctness prevents both Indians and Americans from publicly discussing much, is India’s growing strategic competition with China. With a characteristic Asian feel for the balance of power, New Delhi has reached out to the superpower to counter-balance, in part, its giant neighbor and inevitable rival China. I predict that throughout the rest of this century India’s strategic competition with China will intensify and become almost as fundamental a part of the global order as the Sino-American contest. |
| Posted by:john |
| #3 IndiaÂ’s emergence as a strategic equal of China is a good thing for the world, so long as New Delhi and Beijing manage their inevitable competition effectively. That's our job, not theirs. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-11-11 09:24 |
| #2 The ancient Indian treatise on statecraft and power - the Arthashastra - written around 250 BC - presents the concept of the near and far emperors. The near emperor is your enemy. He represents a challenge to your kingdom. The far emperor is however a potential ally. |
| Posted by: john 2006-11-11 08:59 |
| #1 With a characteristic Asian feel for the balance of power, New Delhi has reached out to the superpower to counter-balance, in part, its giant neighbor and inevitable rival China. Ahh, the subtle strategic masterstroke of the Asian feel for balance and counter-balance. So inscrutable to we imbalanced, ham-footed Westerners. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2006-11-11 08:37 |