Indo-US Relations: Pragmatism and Realpolitik Likely to Prevail

Strategically important agreements like LSA can no longer be delayed on flimsy grounds, writes Suresh Bangara

On 22 and 23 December, I had written two articles on the emerging geopolitical realities of the Indo-US cooperation in the military domain. This was based on two decades of military engagement between the two. The maiden visit of Manohar Parrikar to the US in December last year and the deliberations with his counterpart Ashton Carter had raised predictable headlines in the Indian media. Predictable because of the confusion caused in our minds on issues related to India’s national interests, the bedrock of non-alignment on which entire generations have been brought up in the midst of the rapidly changing geopolitical environment in the world.

The continuing Indo-Russian cooperation, the vicissitudes of the Indo-China relations, the consolidation of the ‘Look East policy’ initiated by Shri Narasimha Rao, the redeployment of US assets to the Indo-Pacific region and PM Modi’s priority to engage with Japan and Australia are not isolated events of history. That there is a method in the perceived madness in the initiatives taken on the foreign policy front, would perhaps be comprehended only in the years to come.