“The U.S – India Partnership: It Matters”

Background

The topic is not only interesting but also a thought provoking one which gives an urge in building a continued relationship, to all the Indians and Fellow Americans. It is also a topic of utmost importance in the contemporary situation. Mr. Barack Obama, the president of USA is the first non white American in the recent years to head the Nation. He stole the show by his impressive speech after he took the baton of American Republic. His speech had the content which outlined bringing the country to prosperity from a status where unemployment was on the rise and the nation was facing a crisis in monetary status by the closure of Banks and with the dollar value depreciating day after day. Certainly after one year of service to the nation, Mr.Obama has tried his best to bring it to a top level status where the economy is shaping up and prosperity has started to bloom.

Dr.Manmohan Singh became the Prime minister of India for the second time with a sizable majority for the Indian National Congress. This time the party depended very less on other groups to form the government. India with its billions of people is a large country not only by size but also by the measure of her population. In fact the population factor has helped India to a great extent in spite of recession happening all over the world. The factors that helped India in becoming a prosperous nation and an emerging power is the wide use of English language by Indians, the knowledge factor (People are well educated and technically sound) and finally the booming economy where consumption is taken care of mostly within India of what is produced and availability of wealth in the hands of the common man.

In the light of the above, we can see how vital it is to have a partnership between USA and India.
Among other factors one can find that partnership between nations has the following advantages:

- Increase the intellectual level of people by way of exchange programs between educational institutions.
- Balance of trade will improve by way of business partnerships.
- Defence cooperation will jump to a higher level by way of conducting joint military exercises
- Improvement in confidence building measures will take place
- Stability and peace in the global arena will be enhanced

In addition to the above it is a matter of great joy that India’s IT professionals are very much in demand in the USA. The number of H1B visas for going to USA is on the increase year on year. Since India’s labour is available a plenty at a cheaper rate, USA uses this aspect to their advantage and it helps both the sides.

Education and Employment

We can see a phenomenal change happening with respect to employment factor. On making a careful study, it is seen that Europeans and Americans are looking towards India for employment where they are comfortable and stable. Americans like the lifestyle of Indians even though it is totally different in every way. The situation is changing everyday and the affinity for India is growing stronger and stronger. Thus we can see a lot of US companies opening up their shop in India and more particularly in Chennai in South India where one can see American population rising by the day. In order to cater to their children’s education, an impressive school of repute has come up near taramani in Chennai named “American International School” where one can see the American child grow up in India, learn and mixes with the Indian community. For the partnership to be fulfilling, all these things matter very much.

Defence Cooperation & Combating terrorism

Recently USA and India has shown confidence in each other’s capability in production and harnessing of Nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. A treaty by the name of 123 has been inked between US and India and it has the approval from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) where Nations like Russia, Canada, Australia, France, UK, and South Africa including USA play an important role in keeping the treaty intact. India is building Nuclear power stations and due to the partnership, the Multibillion dollar companies in USA are coming to India for the supply of Nuclear power equipment which is critical for such applications. Both USA and India believe in peace among nations but will retaliate if necessity arises, to fight against Terrorist groups who are the destroyers of peace and stability among nations. There are religious fanatics, extremists and radicals among others who have no common objective, no clear aim, and no purpose for their provocative actions which includes threat of Terrorism. Ultimately this kind of act brings commotion and Chaos and serves no purpose as terrorism is defeated. This is the area where USA and India are working together as partners since it matters a lot to both the nations as terrorism has to be wiped out of the world and peace should prevail all over. Integrating Indian private sector companies into the global supply chain of US defense manufacturers, combined with co-production, will help remove insecurity about the reliability of US defense supplies.


Cooperation in Space technology

Space technology is another area which matters to both US and India. India has progressed to a very great extent from the very beginning when experimental rockets where built at Thumba in Kerala under the guidance of Dr.Vikram Sarabhai. India has come a long way thereafter and the present technology followed by India where solid propellants are used to launch the rocket into the space from the launch pad at Sriharikota in Andrapradesh in India has been overwhelmingly approved all over the world. Making use of space technology has helped India to Map the earth accurately and forecast weather and identifying areas of Fossil fuels and minerals available on earth. India uses its own launch pad for lifting the rocket into space which is a great achievement and recognized by USA and other nations. India has plans to put a Man on the Moon very soon by the year 2015 which will be a great leap after the giant leap made by Neil Armstrong of USA way back in 1961. Partnership in the Space technology is already underway between USA and India and will be on the increase in the days to come. India has set up an organization named “Antrix Corporation” where the space technology developed by India is being used profitably by way of launching Satellites made by other nations including Canada, Japan, and Korea among others. This partnership in the area of Space technology between US and India is a vital one and it strengthens our relationship. It matters a lot to both the nations to have a fruitful association in building and Launching Satellites.

Cooperation in I.T. sector

Twenty-first century has begun with a revolution in usage of Information Technology (I.T.) for the benefit of billions of people and influencing their life the world over. India has fitted very well in this area as it has built a very large resource of manpower who are well versed and equipped with excellent knowledge in harnessing the I.T. skills. There are many BPO companies and Back office operations going on in India mainly for US companies. A few can be mentioned here Viz. World Bank has a back office in Chennai. So also Citi Bank, Dow Chemicals and IBM to name a few. All this points out clearly to the excellent relationship leading to successful partnership that exists between United States and India. Thus it matters to both the nations to be cooperative with each other in every way as the partnership leads to progress which in turn leads to prosperity among nations. Automatically Trust between nations is developed and it matters to have belief and trust among one another to make things happen. We can see the strengthening of peace and prosperity and also happiness and progress between US and India in the days to come.

Economic Cooperation

Both US and India recognize the importance of expanding bilateral economic engagement, noting the rapid growth of US – India economic ties and the increasing range of global macro economic and financial issues on which US and India cooperate. Having launched Green partnership during Dr.Manmohan Singh’s visit to USA in November, 2009, a M.O.U. has been signed to enhance cooperation on energy security, energy efficiency, clean energy and Climate change. It was also decided that the US and the Government of India will continue to engage regularly through the new US India Agriculture dialogue, the US India energy dialogue and the US India global Climate change dialogue. Thus economic cooperation is an area which also matters to both US and India which will be a topping on the dessert in the light of the current happenings.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing is the traditional area of US – India industrial cooperation and, in the current and future context of globalization, global supply chains and competitive pressures, offers new potential for partnership.

Stability in ASIA

India is emerging as a powerful nation and will work for the stability in the Southeast Asian region more particularly by associating with US in sending peace keeping forces where India’s cooperation is sought for bringing peace in this region. The relationship between US and India for working together for the sake of protecting and establishing peace is well known in the international arena. This has been proved by India explicitly and India’s retired Army General Mr.Nambiar has been widely acclaimed as an excellent commander in bringing peace as a part of UN security forces in Sudan and other African countries. It is a matter of concern to both USA and India in bringing peace among nations where there is harmony and prosperity.


World’s Largest Democracy

India is a lovely country rich in its traditions and culture where besides Hindi; English is spoken widely among most of the people. USA too has its rich culture where English is spoken by all where many ethnic groups are present as in India. As we have seen above, there are a lot of common factors that exists between USA and India and we have to unleash and harness our potential for the peace and prosperity of all. The US and India share common values based on their democratic , multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious societies, as well as a strong entrepreneurial spirit, all of which support the bilateral Strategic partnership. The vision of partnership is one of promise and mutual benefit combined with challenges which can be met, squarely, and overcome. Both our nations are the world’s largest Democratic Republics and both are large in terms of land area and backed by resources. Hence it matters to both the nations to cooperate with each other in every aspect possible for long lasting peace all over the world.

Side Lights

A momentum has been created in the US India partnership of late. The US India relationship has improved dramatically over the last decade as it matters to both the nations. Relations started to improve in the early 1990s following India’s economic reforms, but lingering mutual suspicion from the cold war era, India – Pakistan tensions (Which resulted in three major military crises between 1990 and 2002), and the 1998 nuclear tests stalled genuine strategic engagement. The relations underwent a paradigm shift with the completion of the civil nuclear deal during the last quarter of 2008, an historic agreement that has removed a major irritant in US – India relations.

Conclusion

Maximizing the potential of the US – India strategic partnership should be a major focus of the Obama Administration. The new administration has to strengthen and expand the US – India partnership for a safer and more prosperous Asia in the days to come. We can see that the world has beauty, novelty, variety and entertainment but no stability. Whatever is unstable cannot give happiness or peace. Action is a deliberate and thoughtful response coming out of a calm mind. (Healthy response to all situations.) Reaction is an impulsive and thoughtless response coming from a disturbed mind as a solution to painful situation. Life involves challenges and we cannot avoid the same. Dwelling up on them will never help avoiding the same. We can confront the future. Let us not spoil the present by worrying about the future. Let the thought, word and deed of the people of United States and India be in harmony.

S.SEKAR
Email: sekrajc@yahoo.com
Blog site: http://sekar-personal.blogspot.com/
LinkedIn site: http://www.linkedin.com/in/sekar1