It is reported by the Indian media that in late June the US abruptly scrapped much-awaited high level talks with India over the growing conflict of interest between the two countries.
According to US officials, they have conveyed the message that the talks are being postponed due to “unavoidable reasons.”
The so-called 2+2 dialogues have been scrapped for the second time -- in an earlier effort, the meeting in March was postponed due to a reform in Trump’s administration, when he fired the then secretary of state Rex Tillerson, and the latest one was scheduled for July 6 this year.
Later on that evening, a state department spokesperson reassured that the US-India relationship was a major priority for the Trump administration, and the US had been looking forward to continuing to strengthen the partnership.
The officer also said that India’s central role in the US national security was enshrined in the President’s National Security Strategy and the US welcomed India’s emergence as a leading global power and stronger strategic and defense partner.
According to his statement, the 2+2 talks “would be rescheduled as soon as possible at a mutually convenient time and location.” Some analysts believe that the meeting will be rescheduled after the Trump-Putin meeting, which is due in July 16 in Helsinki.
Last year in late June, Modi’s first visit to the US, after the inauguration of Trump, had an uncomfortable background. On June 2, Trump invectively said that New Delhi had received “billions” of dollars in return for signing the Paris climate deal.
In a denunciatory tone, the US president said: “India makes its participation contingent on receiving billions of dollars in foreign aid from developed countries.” Many suspect Trump’s tirade regarding India before Modi’s visit to the US was a tactical approach to get an upper hand in the bilateral negotiation table.
As an officer -- a state department spokesperson -- said, the US had been welcoming India’s emergence as a strong strategic and defense partner. It is true that both India and the US need each other in South Asia and the Indian ocean region to check and contain Chinese influences.
According to a Geopolitica article, India had signed Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with the US, which enables American access to Indian military facilities for supplies and repairs. And to become a full-fledged defense partner with the US, India has to sign four agreements. India has already signed two.
Therefore, the US still has half a way to go about pursuing its geo-strategic objectives regarding the Indian Ocean region and South Asia.
Since the postponement of the talks came when Washington and New Delhi relationship is straining due to the US threat of sanctions against India if she purchases S-400 missile system from Russia, and keeps purchasing oil from Iran, this abrupt declaration of scrapping the important 2+2 talk may be a calculated move.
Meanwhile, US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, was visiting New Delhi when Washington declared the postponement. Some analysts believe that the timing of the scrapping was to give a leverage in negotiations to Haley while she was dealing her Indian counterparts.
The US decision looks like an abrupt crack forming in the US-Indian relationship, but in reality, it is a periodical and sustaining of American diplomatic, economic, and strategic pressures on India, so that India curbs down Russian, Iranian, and Chinese geo-strategic and geo-economic dependency. λ
Rajeev Ahmed is a geopolitical analyst and a strategic thinker.
