Ashok Kumar Behuria replies: De-hyphenation is a policy adopted by countries to maximise their strategic returns from their diplomatic engagements/investments with two adversarial states, both of whom are of consequence to them. It insulates them in some way from the inadvertent turbulence that could result out of their possible hostile interaction and, thus, affect their relationship with both.
India must jettison the attempt to maintain a balance between China and the US and instead take advantage of China’s internal and external vulnerabilities to gain an upper hand in the asymmetric power equation that has developed.
While it is necessary to identify and shore up the convergence of interest between India and Iran, it is equally important to recognize differences and pitfalls.
Md. Muddassir Quamar replies: The stated reasons for the 2003 Iraq war were presence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and harbouring of terrorists that subsequently proved to be exaggerated and erroneous. The actual reason was lingering problems between the United States (US) and Iraq since early 1990s. Iraq had attacked and annexed Kuwait in August 1990. The US responded by launching Operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait, which was achieved in January 1991.
While Iran and its European interlocutors (along with Russia and China) can be expected to mount a tough challenge to continue to make the JCPOA work in the light of Trump’s May 8 decision to ‘withdraw’ from the agreement, it remains to be seen to what extent they can succeed.
Geopolitical competition between the great powers with or without direct conflict will lead to a situation where productive cooperation among them on critical international issues is likely to prove difficult.
Over the last decade or so, especially during much of Barack Obama’s presidential tenure, the defence sector has become the focus area of cooperation between India and the US. India’s engagement with the US in the area of defence is riding on a new-found realism that drives both countries’ strategic aspirations.
It may be appropriate if the US were to complement its substantial humanitarian and economic assistance by encouraging or even exerting pressure on Myanmar to implement the KAC recommendations.
The US decision to elevate its Cyber Command to that of a Unified Combatant Command sends a strong signal to entities and countries inimical to its interests to recalibrate their security calculus.
The current trajectory of India–US relations is encouraging, but needs to be sustained by optimising their maritime-strategic convergence. In the maritime-configured Indo-Pacific region, the two countries could undertake substantive ‘transactions’ in the domain of geopolitics and military-strategic cooperation.
China’s vulnerability, India’s opportunity
India must jettison the attempt to maintain a balance between China and the US and instead take advantage of China’s internal and external vulnerabilities to gain an upper hand in the asymmetric power equation that has developed.