New Delhi: India and the United States have entered a new phase of bilateral relationship fraught with uncertainty; both genuinely desire to work together, but are impeded by their respective worldview and responsibilities. Because India refuses to accept limits inherent in the incongruous partnership between the major world power and a hopeful power, each is unsure about where the relationship is headed. India wishes for an equal strategic partnership, something that the US has with no country, and will not have.

The two sides held their first strategic dialogue at foreign minister’s level in Washington from June 1 to 4. This followed the journey both sides embarked upon after India’s nuclear tests in May 1998, straddling three US administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama and two Indian governments of A.B. Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. While the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton described the maiden strategic dialogue as one of ‘continuity and change’, the US ambassador in New Delhi, Timothy J. Roemer told FORCE that: ‘One of the primary goals of this dialogue was to expand existing areas of defence and security cooperation, and we succeeded in that.’ The ambassador’s assertion is good news.

As the past must contribute in understanding the future, in FORCE’s opinion, the balance sheet of 12 years of Indo-US engagement, unfortunately, is tilted heavily against India. New Delhi, under US pressure, slowed its strategic programmes. At present, discerning opinion is that Pakistan leads India in ballistic missiles, and equals if not exceeds in fissile material stockpiles. The latter situation too is poised to change in Pakistan’s favour as China, without Nuclear Supplier Group’s knowledge which it joined in 2004, has signed for giving two more power reactors to Pakistan. Considering that the G-8 nations (China is not a member) have in their June 27 meeting renewed ban on export of enrichment and reprocessing (ENR) technologies, clandestine proliferation from China to Pakistan is assured. Pakistan with good plutonium stockpiles will have compact high yield as well as tactical nukes, something that India lacks.