Fault lines growing in US-India relations
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Blinken’s move to hold a “civil society roundtable” discussion with a group of Indians conveyed a powerful message to the Modi government that things may not be as bad as in Belarus or Myanmar, but India is being perceived by the Biden administration more or less the same way as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey – an ally that is straying toward postmodern authoritarianism.
An AFP dispatch from Delhi reported that at the discussion, Blinken “issued a veiled warning … about Indian democracy backsliding.” No amount of wordplay by Blinken could cover up the reality that he had no word of praise for the Modi government. Nor did Jaishankar appear particularly perturbed by that.
Estimating correctly that the Biden administration is unlikely to abandon easily the goals it has been pursuing, Jaishankar was in no mood to apologize, either. And at one point, he interjected at the press conference to point out defiantly that “the quest for a more perfect union applies as much to the Indian democracy as it does to the American one.”
Jaishankar asserted that “it is the moral obligation of all polities to right wrongs when they have been done, including historically. And many of the decisions and policies you’ve seen in the last few years fall in that category.” He held the ground that “freedoms are important, we value them, but never equate freedom with non-governance or lack of governance or poor governance. They are two completely different things.” It is difficult to recall an Indian minister in modern times pushing back at the US publicly.
https://asiatimes.com/2021/07/fault-lines-growing-in-us-india-relations/
