Domestic Determinants of the US India Entente

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1 Oxford Scholarship Online You are looking at of 625 items for: keywords : stasis polind Domestic Determinants of the US India Entente acprof:oso/ The transformation of India's relations with the United States was associated with domestic politics in both countries. From the very start, President George W. Bush viewed India as a natural and strategic ally rather than through the prism of nuclear weapons non-proliferation. Meanwhile, the ascendance of the Bharatiya Janata Party gave India a different perspective with respect to foreign policy. One key issue for India was energy security, and its search for energy resources to meet the rising demand for energy in the country is bringing it into competition with China. The civilian nuclear energy cooperation pact signed with the United States has enabled India's nuclear power plants to ramp up their nuclear power generation. This chapter looks at other domestic issues that have influenced the nuclear pact between India and the United States, including defence and security, the Indian diaspora, and public opinion towards the United States. Individual-Level Determinants of the US India Entente acprof:oso/ In addition to factors at the structural and domestic political level, several personalities played key roles in the negotiations that made the nuclear pact between India and the United States a reality. US President George W. Bush and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the way. Bush had the support of Condoleezza Rice, his Secretary of State; R. Page 1 of 6

2 Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs and Bush's foreign policy advisor in the 2000 presidential campaign; and former US Ambassador to India, Robert D. Blackwill, and his advisor, Ashley J. Tellis. On India's part, important figures included Sonia Gandhi, head of India's ruling Congress party; former External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee; former National Security Advisor, M.K. Narayanan; and the Prime Minister's Special Envoy, Shyam Saran. India's Two-Level Negotiations acprof:oso/ The nuclear pact between India and the United States triggered a heated debate not only in both countries but also in the larger international community. This is attributed to the wide-ranging implications of the agreement for the future of the US-India relations as well as for the global nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime. Various constituencies with stark differences in agendas had a stake in the success or failure of the pact, but the Indian and the US governments were able to reconcile these often conflicting, interests. International negotiations occur at two levels: the national level and the international level. India and the US successfully dealt with both levels, albeit with different approaches. For the Indian government, the main obstacles included the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). For the US, it was Iran. America's Engagement with a Nuclear India acprof:oso/ Both India and the United States encountered stiff resistance to their civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement. For President George W. Bush, the challenge was to reconcile conflicting viewpoints and convincing the nation's various constituencies that the nuclear pact was in America's interest. Most of the negative reactions against the deal had to do with its potential impact on other states with plans of pursuing Page 2 of 6

3 nuclear weapons. Some members of Congress were initially hostile to the agreement. The pact also drew criticism from non-proliferation advocates because of India's rejection of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. This chapter examines how President George W. Bush dealt with the critics of his administration's nuclear agreement with India. The Nuclear Deal's Challenge to the Non-Proliferation Regime acprof:oso/ Negotiating the nuclear pact between India and the United States proved problematic because of the two competing imperatives of the latter's foreign policy: great power politics versus nuclear weapons nonproliferation. President George W. Bush's administration considered the agreement primarily as an instrument to develop a strategic alliance with India, but many members of Congress would support it only if it contributed to the objectives of non-proliferation. In India, political critics viewed the agreement as a ploy by the US to stifle India's nuclear options. Aside from nuclear technicalities, the US-India civilian nuclear energy cooperation agreement is also about the emergence of a new configuration in global balance of power. This chapter discusses the long-standing debate in the international relations literature about the effectiveness of international institutions in global politics, as well as the civilian nuclear energy pacts signed by India with other nations following that with the US. Introduction: An Approach to Rights S.K. Das in India's Rights Revolution: Has It Worked for the Poor? Published in print: 2013 Published Online: May 2013 ISBN: eisbn: acprof:oso/ This chapter introduces the readers to the questions that the book asks and answers. The questions are: Are the laws, which give these rights, adequate to ensure that the standards of the rights are met for the poor and that access to them is made as secure as possible? Are these laws accessible? Are the poor aware of the provisions of these Page 3 of 6

4 laws so as to realize their rights? Is there enough money to provide the goods and services that these rights are supposed to give? Is the quality of institutions good enough to create secure access to the goods and services they are set up to provide? Is there a remedy if the laws are violated? Are these remedies easily accessible? The introductory chapter also tells the readers how the book is structured. Introduction acprof:oso/ This introductory chapter begins with discussions of social exclusion in India and its efforts to develop an inclusive democracy in a highly diverse, multicultural, multilingual, and multi-religious society. It considers debates over the uneven treatment of disadvantaged groups and the relevance of affirmative action as a remedy for underrepresentation and exclusion. It describes the plight of Muslims, who suffer from greater deprivation and disadvantage compared to other minorities. The chapter then sets out the main purpose of the book, which is to examine the politics of inclusion through an analysis of the policies and debates on the strategies of the state in relation to the lower castes and minorities, and the implications of the differential approach. It assesses the underlying issues that influence state policy towards disadvantaged caste groups and specific strategies to address the contending claims of deprived minority groups. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented. Reservation, Minority Rights, and the Making of the Constitution acprof:oso/ This chapter examines the political framework for the protection of disadvantaged groups and the differentiated forms it has taken with regard to lower castes and religious minorities in the historical context Page 4 of 6

5 of debates in the Constituent Assembly on these issues. The deep commitment of the Indian nation-state to the idea of equal participation of all its constituents was the rationale for enacting substantive and comprehensive social justice measures, and by extension, the recognition of the problem of social and educational backwardness of lower-caste groups by providing reservations for them in these arenas. The chapter highlights the differentiated manner in which the Assembly approached the issue of cultural diversity and historical discrimination in the policy discourse, and the implications of this for the inclusion of both groups. Policies and Institutional Frameworks for Protecting the Disadvantaged acprof:oso/ This chapter examines how the Indian state has dealt with the discrimination, deprivation, and exclusion suffered by lower castes and religious minorities. It looks at constitutional provisions and public policies in an attempt to understand the policy framework in relation to these groups. It attempts to answer two questions: (1) how did the state propose to deal with the problems of these two groups? and (2) what has been the impact of such provisions and polices in the protection and promotion of the interests of the deprived and disadvantaged? The trajectory of the government s minority policy suggests that it can work effectively only when there is a strongly articulated political and policy consensus on minorities. Caste, Social Backwardness, and OBC Reservations (Mandal I and II) acprof:oso/ This chapter examines the extension of reservations to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and the rationale of reservation in relation to Page 5 of 6

6 the debate over the desirability and feasibility of reservations to them. The first part outlines the political context of the emergence of the backward-caste reservation issue in the 1970s and 1980s, culminating in the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations on OBC reservations from 1994 onwards. The second part discusses the government s decision in 2006 to extend reservations to the OBCs in the field of higher education in the context of economic reforms and the growing importance of technical and professional education in the new economy. It explores the notions of disadvantage and backwardness and unravels the processes whereby caste and class issues have got entangled. It also examines the political, policy, and legal links between caste and class in the designation of backwardness and disadvantage. Page 6 of 6