This is the problem of having rich and powerful friends. The friendship will never be built on equal footing. It will solely depend on how you are serving the interests of your powerful friend. As long as you prove to be helpful, the other side will be friendly towards you. Otherwise, the unequal friendship will end overnight.
This is exactly why US President Donald Trump has done, he dropped a bombshell by claiming that Indian Prime Minister has requested him to mediate between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue. Clearly, this is a statement which will satisfy the India-baiters most as it is totally opposite to India’s stand that the Kashmir issue will be solved bilaterally. Pakistan also agreed to it. Shimla Accord of 1972 is a testimony to this fact. Then what role does Mr. Trump want to play? Is there any scope for him to interfere in Kashmir? The US President is the most powerful person in the world. His wishes have always been treated as orders. It will not be a surprise if tomorrow within United Nations the clamour for mediation in resolving the Kashmir issue grows. After all, no one has the veto power to desist the US President from what he wants to do.
If one goes back in the past, he or she will not be able to praise Pandit Nehru for his wisdom and farsightedness. After the Second World War, many powerful countries wanted to take India under their wings to create a new world order. But the first prime minister of India overcame all those temptations and went ahead with the developing countries to form Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), an organisation which vowed to maintain equal distance from the so called superpowers; thus formed the foreign policy of independent India. It was Nehru’s daughter the third prime minister of the country Indira Gandhi, who deviated from NAM ideology by becoming close to erstwhile USSR. But overall, the policy remained unchanged.
With the fall of USSR and various communist bastions in Eastern Europe in early nineties made the foreign policy adopted by India little bit outdated. NAM lost its importance in a uni-polar world. It gave US the scope to police the world. Gulf War, Afghan War, strain relations with North Korea and Iran, interference in Venezuela are examples of a few misdeeds that the US committed since the fall of USSR. In the meantime, India’s relations with US have also improved. From Indo-US Civil Nuclear Deal to various other agreements, these two countries have signed during this period. US have advocated for a strategic relationship between the two countries and India kept on flouting it as its bigger presence in world stage.
The pride of having a powerful friend has now started affecting India. US were friendly towards India not because of world peace, but to counter China, the other superpower. US were kind towards India as it has set an eye on the vast Indian market to bail out its economy out from recession. It is New Delhi which misinterpreted US’s intentions as friendship. So when India started buying arms from Russia, protested against sanction again Iran and putting pressure on US to be firm on Pakistan, the big brother decided to show its real face. The writing’s on the wall – either follow US policy or get ready to be humiliated. India will have to use all its diplomatic skills to erase this blunder.
