Those sanctions, reflecting the influence of the arms-control faction in the US, were a monumentally bad way to treat a rising great power.The US also has competition for winning India's favor. After a brief lapse following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Moscow is again cultivating economic and strategic ties with New Delhi. Indeed, the two countries just recently concluded a major arms sale agreement.
More important, Russia apparently sees India as an important component of a coalition of major powers to thwart US global hegemony. Three years ago, then-foreign minister Yevgeny Primakov openly proposed that India join a "triangular alliance" with Russia and China to promote a "multipolar world."
Even China has sought to improve relations with India. The previously serious tensions along the disputed border between the two countries have noticeably eased over the past three years. When India and Pakistan became embroiled in an armed skirmish over Kashmir in 1999, Beijing gave surprisingly weak support to its Pakistani ally.
And just a few weeks ago, Indian and Chinese naval forces engaged in joint maneuvers.
India is clearly keeping all of its options open. The George W. Bush administration would be wise to overrule the arms-control fanatics in middle ranks of the State Department and lift sanctions against India immediately.
It should also enthusiastically support India's ambition to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Finally, the administration should make clear to New Delhi that it has no intention whatsoever to interfere in the Kashmir dispute.
India should be a natural de facto strategic partner for the US. With wiser diplomacy on Washington's part, there are no serious issues on which the interests of two countries are in conflict. Conversely, there are numerous areas in which Indian and US interests coincide. Chief among them are stability in the Persian Gulf and placing a limitation on China's ambitions. A continuation of the inept diplomacy of the Clinton years, however, could drive India into the waiting arms of Russia and China.
Ted Galen Carpenter is vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute and is the author or editor of 13 books on international affairs.
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