Dr Manmohan Singh: A master strategist

Apart from the economic liberalisation that he ushered in, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh also carried out a major strategic shift in India’s foreign policy to lay foundation of the Indo-US ties.

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In July 2005, Dr Manmohan Singh and US President George Bush met and announced their resolve to transform the Indo-US relationship and establish a ‘global partnership’.

In May 2004, Dr Manmohan Singh succeeded Atal Bihari Vajpayee to become the PM. Five months prior to that, India and the US had agreed to discuss ‘next steps in the strategic partnership’. Dr Manmohan Singh’s government speeded up the removal of ‘roadblocks’ that had existed in the Indo-US ties since the 1960s.

Today, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a condolence message, described Dr Singh as one of the greatest champions of the US-India partnership. “His work laid the foundation for much of what our countries have accomplished together in the past two decades… Will always remember his dedication to bringing the US and India closer together,” Blinken said.

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said while Dr Manmohan Singh was regarded as the architect of the Indian economic reforms, he was “equally responsible for the strategic corrections to our foreign policy”.

Dr Singh’s meeting with Bush in Washington DC in 2005 had opened Indo-US cooperation in cutting-edge defence equipment, civilian nuclear deal, space programmes and high-technology trade. In the years to follow, the two countries signed a civil-nuclear deal in 2008. Blinken said “His leadership in advancing the US-India Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement signified a major investment in the potential of the US-India relationship.”

His visit to US in 2005 led to sharing of technology between the two countries in defence, nuclear and space sectors.

After 2005, the US opened military technology supplies, and Indian armed forces now use latest planes, copters and specialised artillery guns supplied by US firms. The relationship is now progressing to co-production with a jet engine to be made in collaboration. US aerospace giants Lockheed Martin and Boeing have opened joint ventures with manufacturing plants in India. India went on to sign multiple agreements on sharing military logistics and geo-spatial mapping. The two are partners in the Quad along with Australia and Japan.

In the space sector, Chandrayaan-1, India’s first deep space mission was launched in 2008 with collaboration with NASA. Over the years, India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and The Wassenaar Arrangement.

Relations now stand at a juncture that the two countries this month declared that they look to expand joint space exploration programme to include the domain of national security.

A science and technology framework agreement, building on the US-India High-Technology Cooperation Group (HTCG), signed after 2005 has progressed to now have a US-India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) for cooperation in critical and emerging technologies from space to semiconductors besides co-development and co-production of hi-tech items, including jet engines.