Stop bullying India, Mr Obama

By MV Kamath


India was not responsible for starting the war in Vietnam. The US dropped more bombs on that small poverty-ridden state than were dropped by all the nations involved in the Second World war on each other—and no questions were ever raised. Even on the Iraq issue, it was the US which first supported Saddam Hussain to fight Iran. For the rise of Saddam Hussain it is only the US that is responsible.

If Mr Robert Blackwill, former US Ambassador to India (2000-2003) is to be believed, India may encounter eventual US pressure on Kashmir issue because of Barack Obama’s focus on Pakistan. Furthermore, according to him “there are preliminary indications that the Obama administration has a different policy orientation towards India, especially vis-à-vis China. It is time Obama is told that India has had enough of bullying by the US and if he wants to make it hard for India, he is free to do so. India has survived bullying by John Foster Dulles and his gang and it can stand bullying by Obama. But first he must be told of India’s stand in as clear words as possible.

India has been more sinned against than sinning. India did not take Jammu & Kashmir by force. The state became part of India legally, strictly according to prevailing rules of the right of the Maharaja to accede to India. And this further had the support of the people, then led by Sheikh Abdullah. It was Pakistan that attacked Jammu & Kashmir and not India. It is true that India foolishly, it now turns out, took the Kashmir issue to the Security Council for justice. But from that day onwards, the US has proved to be unfriendly towards Delhi. Apart from the legality of the issue, India as a secular state had every right to assert itself following Kashmir’s accession. India has never believed in the two-nation theory and it never will. That the two-nation theory was bogus to begin with has subsequently proved to be correct when the Bangladeshis separated themselves from Pakistan to form their own state.

For the rampant communalism and propagation of Pakistani hatred towards India, it is the US which is squarely responsible. Barack Obama has better understand that. The US for its own Cold War purposes recklessly armed Pakistan which, in turn used those arms against India in three wars all of which it lost. India did not start the wars. It was Pakistan, with discreet US help, which did. When President Eisenhower said that arms supplied to Pakistan will not be used against India, it was to provoke V K Krishna Menon, then leader of the Indian delegation to the United Nations to reply that the world had yet to manufacture guns that could shoot in only one direction.

When India was forced by sheer necessity to help the Bengali rebels in 1962, it was US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger who sought to persuade China to attack India, India has not forgotten that. Who is presently pushing jehadis into Jammu & Kashmir? It is Pakistan and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) which for years has been patronised by the US that never took the trouble to stop its sinister activities. And who are the jehadis, the Taliban and the al-Qaedists? They are the very ones who were recklessly financed and trained at US cost by the Pakistan Army.

India has every reason to be angry and frustrated with the US. It has suffered enough at the hands of Washington and if it wants to continue this exercise, so be it. President Obama can’t be any worse than President Ronald Reagan who treated India like a beggar nation and humiliated it by agreeing to provide food aid on a ship-to-mouth basis. And certainly he can’t be worse than Richard Nixon who abused Indira Gandhi. India does not want to be hyphenated with Pakistan, a terrorist country that has constantly sought with US patronage to knife India in the back. India has withstood it for sixty years and can withstand it for another sixty, presuming that Pakistan will survive till then, which is doubtful. India has no reason to be apologetic. It has consistently refused to play second fiddle to US interests and it will continue to do so. But now we have Rose Gottemoeller, US Assistant Secretary of State who has been quoted as saying that India must sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. India has never been guilty of proliferation as Pakistan has been and which has gone unpunished.

India does not consider itself to be in any way inferior to Britain and France and wants to be treated on an equal basis. India has not used any nuclear weapons against any nation, as the US has. India should demand equality with the Big Five. Since when has Barack Obama become racist? India cannot suffer being treated as a second class nation. The US is now looking up to China because it has become indebted to it. China had made good use of duty free supply of cheap goods to the US to earn its trillions. No wonder Obama now wants to change his approach towards China. It is bad politics, but that has been the feature of US foreign policy for years, which has brought it to its present stage of desperation.

India was not responsible for starting the war in Vietnam. The US dropped more bombs on that small poverty-ridden state than were dropped by all the nations involved in the Second World War on each other—and no questions were ever raised. Even on the Iraq issue, it was the US which first supported Saddam Hussain to fight Iran. For the rise of Saddam Hussain it is only the US that is responsible. For the rise of terrorism in Pakistan it is again, only the US which is responsible. For Pakistan to say that it can’t shift its troops from the Indian border, out of fear of an Indian attack is nonsense. It has been Pakistan and the US supported jehadis who have provoked India. India has no intention to wage a war against Pakistan. It has better things to do. And who is responsible for Pakistan’s accumulation of nuclear weapons? Is it India?

For years, the US turned a blind eye while A Q Khan merrily went about building the nuclear infrastructure for all to see. Washington refused to see it since it didn’t serve US interests to do so. Mr Obama should be warned, to keep his hands off India whether on the Jammu & Kashmir or NPT issue. It was the US which helped build up al Qaeda and the Taliban. It was the US which deserted Afghanistan after the Russians quit the scene. It was the US which has been responsible for creating, training and financing terrorism. India was never involved in all these sinister activities. Pakistan was and so remains to this day. If Pakistan claims that its tension is due to Kashmir, it is time the US told its chamcha that its claims are untenable and are best forgotten.

The days of Eisenhower-Dulles, Nixon-Kissinger are over. If we now have to face another anti-India Obama-Clinton duo, India can face it. But let Obama remember that India is not a nation to be trifled with. Involved is India’s self-respect –a point that the Blackwills and the Gottemoellers will do well to remember. Signing the NPT would be tantamount to India giving up its nuclear weapons. India’s hands are clean and they will remain clean. And under no circumstances should it be bracketed with Pakistan and Israel.