McCain on the Future of the U.S. India-Relationship: “India should be given Permanent Membership on the U.N. Security Council.”

Summary by Debie Waggoner
Carnegie Endowment, November 5, 2010

As President Obama departs for New Delhi tomorrow, McCain discusses India’s increasingly important relationship with the United States. The question is, does Obama second his thoughts?

McCain began by emphasizing the “bipartisan success that began with Clinton and continues to this day” in solidifying the strategic and common-values relationship between the U.S. and India. He gave special credit to current Indian Prime Minister Singh for working through the tough political environment in India to secure the Nuclear Civilian Agreement. He praised India for its peaceful rise and commitment to security and democracy.

Security: McCain addressed the enormous tensions between Indian and Pakistan and touched on the Mumbai attacks. McCain touted Singh for his “restraint that exemplified statesmanship” after the Mumbai attacks when the world knew that Pakistani terrorists were behind the bloodbath. (Would the U.S. have exercised the same restraint?) McCain discussed the importance of the U.S. finishing the mission to help build an Afghanistan that is no longer a terrorist safe-haven, but instead able to govern itself enough to be a respected member of the international community. India fears that the U.S. will withdraw too soon, leaving its border with Afghanistan even more perilous than it was before. Pakistan also expects the U.S. to withdraw too soon, McCain stated, explaining that it is the main reason Pakistani military officials continue to secretly provide support to extremists who are anti-India. “If the U.S. quits Afghanistan, the consequences will be terrible for the U.S., but even worse for India.” He also mentioned that the U.S. and India share a goal of “shaping China’s rise.”
Democracy (vs. China): “Are my remarks [for a more secure India] also directed at China?” McCain emphasized that he was not trying to provoke China by tooting India’s horn, but rather recognized that both the U.S. and India seek a peaceful relationship with China. However, he did point out that “China’s recent actions have been concerning.” Such as: undermining multi-lateral agreements on sanctions with Iran, refusing to allow a “realistic” currency valuation change, contesting borders with India (this has been going on for decades), and its new assertiveness in the region (why not? It has the economy to do so). He claimed that China has resolved all of its land border disputes with every other nation except India. (I highly doubt that this is an accurate statement, as China has had border disputes with nearly all of its neighbors for years.) There were representatives from China’s state-run Xinhua news agency in attendance, so I’ll be curious to see what they write about this speech. Undoubtedly, it will make the U.S. appear anti-China, as it often does, and this speech certainly did nothing to dissuade that-although it was not a direct attack on the Chinese.

After 45 minutes of making points on our common interests: security and democracy, McCain got to the main point: India should be granted permanent membership on the U.N. Security Council. Without dwelling on this statement, he moved on to talk about the importance of strengthening democratic institutions within India and around South Asia. He concluded by cautioning against “demonizing India-outsourcing is part of the global economy; India is not out to ‘steal’ American jobs. And India’s political leaders should do more to support its relationship with the U.S. by not using it as a ‘political club’ and instead, promoting it. It’s this simple my friends, if the 21st Century is going to be defined more by peace than war…it will be because of a strong U.S. –India alliance. There’s nothing [the U.S. and India] cannot accomplish together.”

Concluding Thoughts: China, don’t take this personally, but the U.S. clearly sees India as a way to balance your rising power and its going to milk that relationship for all its worth in the coming decades. And-China, you haven’t exactly been the most cooperative nation—not nearly as cooperative as India. But, we still need you to hold our billions in debt, so we’ll find a way to reach out to you later. India-we do like you, but you are not as supportive of individual liberty and human rights as McCain claimed. You are working on it though. Pakistan-the U.S. is supporting you economically, but the security threats of extremists seem to win you over more than our billions of dollars in aid. I hope we can figure out how to truly get you onboard.

Oh and that bit about India joining the Security Council…China? What do you say? Not a big deal, right?