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by Lynn Ockersz

One significant development in the international relations sphere which the turbulence in Afghanistan has tended to eclipse is the steady improvement of Indo-US ties.

Today these heavy weights on the global scene do not only stand firmly united on a pledge to jointly combat 'terrorism' but are also making significant and far-reaching moves towards liberalising inter-state trade in high technology products. This is seen as one of the most significant gains from an official visit Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee made to the US earlier this month for one-to-one talks with US President George Bush. It is believed that the decks have now been cleared for substantive Indo-US negotiations on subjects ranging from co-operation in civilian nuclear safety to space programs and export controls on sensitive technologies.

The almost dramatic improvement in Indo-US Relations could be gauged from the strong likelihood of a visit early next year by the US President to India. It was hardly two years ago that a strong impetus to the upgrading of bilateral relations was given by a visit to the subcontinent by former US President Bill Clinton. Indo-US ties could be said to have been on an upswing since then. The concern of the two countries over 'terrorism' and the developments in Afghanistan are certain to have further cemented bilateral relations.

A joint statement issued by the two countries at the end of the Indian Premier's visit indicated that talks will soon be launched on "ways to stimulate bilateral high technology commerce". They also promised to "evaluate processes by which we transfer dual-use and military items with a view towards greater transparency and efficiency."

We see here a gradual relaxation of US concern over a nuclear powered India which could pose a serious threat to regional security. Over the decades, Indian co-operation into the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was a chief concern of the US. The Indian response to this requirement essentially was that nuclear disarmament should be universally adhered to, before India subscribed to the CTBT. This developed into a point of tension in Indo-US ties.

The crumbling of the Cold War in the late Eighties and the adoption of liberal economic reforms by India in the early Nineties, seem to have prepared the ground work for a vast improvement and even reorientation of Indo-US relations. Besides the gradual acceptance by the US of India's regional power status, the prospect India offers for stepped-up capital investment by US firms and the vast middle class Indian market for US goods seem to be proving important catalysts in the process of upgrading bilateral relations.

The testing of a nuclear device by India in May 1998, followed by a similar test by Pakistan, imposed some strains on Indo-US ties but the crisis in Afghanistan and common perceptions on 'terrorism' seem to have cemented ties as never before. Pledges by India to co-operate with the US -in containing terrorism compelled Washington to do away with the economic sanctions it clamped on India in the wake of the 1998 nuclear reaction explosion, so grateful was the US for the help extended.

With Cold War compulsions dying out and India's erstwhile ally, Russia, pledging its co-operation to the Western alliance in its military onslaught on Afghanistan we are witnessing a substantial reordering of inter-state relations in South Asia. No more will we witness the formation of mutually hostile alliances in the region which are linked to big powers wielding supreme power globally.

This was the case in the Eighties and Seventies, for instance, when India was allied to the Soviet Union and Pakistan proved a staunch Cold War partner of the US.

However, the irony besetting South Asia now is that although the big powers of the West are discovering commonalities among themselves, the major states of the region are continuing on a confrontational course on account of unresolved inter-state disputes. Thus, 'cross-border terrorism' is continuing to divide India and Pakistan. Third World states continue to be losers. 

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