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The Bangladesh war in 1972 witnessed the nadir in Indo-US
relations, due to the blatant US tilt at the instance of Nixon
and Kissinger. Fakir Syed Aijazuddin’s recent book The
White House and Pakistan: Secret De-classified Documents 1969-74,
based on documents recently made available, gives a wealth of
information on the visits of Kissinger and President Nixon to
China, the emergence of rift between the USSR and China and the
determined efforts of the USA to push China into attacking India
for rescuing Pakistan whose army was crumbling in the brief
Bangladesh war. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi withstood the
threats and pressures from the USA and completed the task in
Bangladesh.
Datta Ray has
provided a wealth of information on the gunboat diplomacy of the
USA and the UK on the Middle East oil reserves. The overthrow of
Mohammed Mossadeq, Iranian Prime Minister in 1951, after he
nationalised the monopolistic British Petroleum in Iran, by the
joint efforts of the USA and British "intelligence agencies
changed the history of West Asia." It restored the hated
Pahelvi royalty which later led to the emergence of Islamic
fundamentalists headed by the Ayatollah.
Lord Wavell had
indeed anticipated the emerging power struggle. Addressing the
Royal Central Asian Society in 1949, he said that "the next
great struggle for world power, if it takes place, may well be
for the control of the oil reserves of the Middle East."
The overthrow of Mossadeq of Iran was the first step in this
direction. The Kuwait war launched by President Bush Sr. along
with his Western allies, after Saddam Hussain of Iraq overran
Kuwait, was largely for the control of Kuwait’s oil reserves.
Adm. William J. Crowe, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, had put the issue in correct perspective when he
commented that the USA would not have bothered defending Kuwait
if it had exported bananas.
The war cry of
President Bush against Iraq has been termed as primarily focused
on the USA’s vital interest in accessing Iraq’s vast oil
reserves. Since there is no evidence that Saddam Hussain has
nuclear weapons, an all-out war, for which preparations are
going ahead in full steam, looks very much oil centric. Daniel
Ellsberg, known as the patron saint of whistle blowers, has
recently come out with a new book, Secrets: A Memoir of
Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. Constraint of space
inhibits extensive quotes; suffice to cite just one: Since Sept
9, 2001 the USA has experienced the unchecked resurgence of the
"imperial presidency".
Datta Ray has also
dealt extensively with the post-Pokhran events and the phase of
sanctions imposed on India (and Pakistan). President Clinton
ruefully wondered, after India went nuclear, "if neglect
had not goaded India?" He added, "Well, I think they
have been under-appreciated in the world and in the USA."
Clinton did try to set the balance right towards the end of his
presidency, particularly after the Kargil misadventure of
Pakistan.
Datta Ray should
be congratulated on his monumental effort. This book deserves to
be kept in the libraries of Indian embassies, institutions
dealing with security studies and universities.
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WAITING
for America spans the
entire gamut of Indo-US relations since India’s independence, with
detailed coverage on selective periods. The Kashmir issue before the
United Nations became a matter of serious controversy between India
and the USA because of the equivocal stand taken by the latter. On
critical occasions, it was the Russian veto that stood between
Western maneuvering and India’s stand on the Kashmir issue. This
plagues Indo-US relations even today, although the USA has
considerably matured in handling the Kashmir problem.
