{"id":59039,"date":"2016-09-23T14:04:57","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T21:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=59039"},"modified":"2016-09-23T14:04:57","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T21:04:57","slug":"what-is-brics-member-india-really-up-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2016\/09\/23\/what-is-brics-member-india-really-up-to\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is BRICS Member India Really Up To?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Pepe Escobar<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism – See more at: http:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/2016-09-19\/palestinians-lose-in-us-military-aid-deal-with-israel\/#sthash.H1NbQCac.dpuf<\/em><\/p>\n

September 21, 2016 “Information Clearing House<\/a>” – “RT<\/a>” – You may have never heard of LEMOA. In Global South terms, LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum Agreement) is quite a big thing, signed in late August by Indian Defense Minister Mohan Parrikar and Pentagon supremo Ash Carter.<\/p>\n

As Carter\u00a0spun it<\/a> four months before the signing, LEMOA rules that US forces\u00a0may\u201d<\/em> be deployed to India under special circumstances. Essentially, Delhi will allow Washington to refuel and keep contingents and equipment in Indian bases \u2013 but only in case of war.<\/p>\n

In theory, India is not offering the US any permanent military base. Yet considering the Pentagon\u2019s track record that may of course change in a flash.<\/p>\n

No wonder Indian nationalists were outraged \u2013 insisting there is no strategic gain out of this gambit, especially for a nation that is very proud of being one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).<\/p>\n

The cozying up to the Pentagon happens just a few months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi \u2013 who had been denied a US visa for nearly a decade \u2013 addressed a joint meeting of Congress in a blaze of glory,\u00a0declaring<\/a> that India and the US are natural allies\u201d and calling for a closer partnership.<\/p>\n

Modi went no holds barred, even referring to Gandhi\u2019s influence on Rev. Martin Luther King\u2019s nonviolent civil disobedience strategy \u2013 something that could not but earn him a standing ovation in Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

The closer\u201d<\/em> partnership does involve military and nuclear issues. As Modi reminded Congress \u2013 which needed no reminding \u2013 the industrial-military complex sold weapons to India from almost zero to $10 billion in less than a decade.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the US-India nuclear cooperation deal, which opens a window for US corporations to build and supply Indian nuclear power reactors. And eventually Washington is bent to share some\u201d<\/em> \u2013 and the operative concept is some\u201d<\/em> \u2013 military technology with Delhi.<\/p>\n

Geopolitically, this all boils down to what happened recently in the Philippine Sea, as the US, Japan and India practiced anti-submarine warfare and air defense maneuvers; practical evidence of the pivot to Asia\u201d<\/em>, as in re-tweaking Asia\u2019s naval-securityorder\u201d<\/em> to counteract \u2013 who else \u2013 China.<\/p>\n

Modi performs geopolitical yoga<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yet things are not as black and white \u2013 from the Indian point of view. It\u2019s no secret that key sectors of the Indian diaspora in the US are quite integrated with the Washington consensus and usual suspect hegemony mechanisms such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Rand Corporation. But Modi\u2019s game is way more sophisticated.<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s priority is to solidify India as the top South Asian power. So he cannot afford to antagonize Washington. On the contrary; he\u2019s getting the US on board his vastly ambitious\u00a0Make in India strategy<\/a> (a major national initiative designed to facilitate investment; foster innovation; enhance skill development; protect intellectual property; and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure.\u201d)<\/em><\/p>\n

Naturally, US corporations \u2013 heavy supporters of TPP \u2013 are salivating at the lucrative prospects. The drive is similar to what China did decades ago, but now with emphasis on protection of intellectual property\u201d<\/em> to attract the TPP-obsessed crowd.<\/p>\n

Another geopolitical Modi goal is to forcefully present India \u2013 not Pakistan \u2013 to Washington as the ideal reliable\/rational partner in South Asia. That\u2019s dicey, because for the Pentagon the multiple declinations of the war on terra in AfPak are de facto being configured as something like Operation Enduring Freedom Forever.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s once again the military angle: India diversifying its weapons suppliers \u2013 mostly it buys from Russia \u2013 towards the US, but not that much, establishing a careful balance.<\/p>\n

This is a balance between the US and BRICS, in itself is the hardest nut to crack. As Beijing admits<\/a> in no uncertain terms, BRICS faces the risk of retrogressive, rather than progressive, cooperation because of new, intricate circumstances.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Talk about a diplomatic euphemism for the ages. And this as Washington will go no holds barred to
\ncontain China<\/a>\u00a0behind the First Island Chain in the South China Sea while there\u2019s not much Delhi can do to contain Myanmar providing Beijing with total access to the Indian Ocean via Pipelineistan, ports and high-speed rail.<\/p>\n

Meet INSTC<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the next BRICS summit in Goa next month, some of these geopolitical intricacies will be quietly discussed behind closed doors. BRICS may be in disarray, with Brazil under regime change, Russia under sanctions and India flirting with the US. But BRICS remains committed to serious institutional moves, such as the New Development Bank (NDB), the push towards trading in their own currencies and a multi-pronged politico\/economic drive towards a multipolar world.<\/p>\n

This drive is graphically in effect when we examine one of the key \u2013 unreported \u2013 Eurasian integration stories; the symbiosis between India and Iran. Delhi counts on Tehran to up its game as an economy propelled by natural gas as well as profiting in the long run from the perfect \u2013 Persian \u2013 gateway to Central Asian markets.<\/p>\n

The key hub of course is the port of Chabahan. The highlight of a Modi visit to Tehran four months ago was a Chabaharcontract<\/a>\u00a0between India Ports Global Private Limited and Arya Banader of Iran. That\u2019s about development and operation for 10 years of two terminals and 5 berths with cargo handling\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s way more; development of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and essential road\/rail links from Iran to Afghanistan and further into Central Asia. India will then have direct access to Afghanistan, bypassing Pakistan. It does not hurt that Delhi and Kabul are already strategic partners.<\/p>\n

Chabahar is only 500 km east of the ultra-strategic Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

In the near future, we might as well see a configuration where the Indian Navy has the right to use Chabahar while the Chinese Navy has the right to use Gwadar, in Pakistan, only 150 km by sea east of Chabahar. Nothing that BRICS dialogue \u2013 or the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) \u2013 could not keep on smooth sailing mode.<\/p>\n

For Iran, this is a certified win-win\u201d<\/em> game. Iran not only will be connected to the Chinese One Belt, One Road (OBOR); but it will also solidify<\/a> yet another trade\/transportation corridor in Eurasia; the International North-South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) between the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. Key INSTC members happen to be Iran, India and\u2026 Russia. Talk about, once again, the interpenetration of BRICS and the SCO.<\/p>\n

The Big Picture ahead under Modi\u2019s long term planning does not look like Delhi subjected to the role of flagrant vassal of Washington. India needs certified stability with all key players \u2013 from the US to China, considering the master plan is to lift 1.3 billion Indians close to the living standards of middle-class Chinese.<\/p>\n

China had a head start. India may take up to 2050 to do it. Meanwhile, it\u2019s not to India\u2019s interests to actively join any US policy of China containment or encirclement, be it pivot\u201d<\/em> or rebalance\u201d<\/em>. It\u2019s more like India, in a Gandhian way, will be practicing the fine art of nonviolent, forceful neutrality.<\/p>\n

Pepe Escobar is an independent geopolitical analyst. He writes for RT, Sputnik and TomDispatch, and is a frequent contributor to websites and radio and TV shows ranging from the US to East Asia. He is the former roving correspondent for Asia Times Online. Born in Brazil, he’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, and has lived in London, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, Washington, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Even before 9\/11 he specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central and East Asia, with an emphasis on Big Power geopolitics and energy wars. He is the author of “Globalistan” (2007), “Red Zone Blues” (2007), “Obama does Globalistan” (2009) and “Empire of Chaos” (2014), all published by Nimble Books. His latest book is “2030”, also by Nimble Books, out in December 2015. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Pepe Escobar Jonathan Cook is a Nazareth- based journalist and winner of the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism – See more at: http:\/\/www.jonathan-cook.net\/2016-09-19\/palestinians-lose-in-us-military-aid-deal-with-israel\/#sthash.H1NbQCac.dpuf September 21, 2016 “Information Clearing House” – “RT” – You may have never heard of LEMOA. In Global South terms, LEMOA (Logistics Exchange Memorandum Agreement) is quite a big thing, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59039\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}