From a new US National Defense Strategy, approved by US defence secretary, Robert Gates in June 2008, where he –
…points to India as an ally he hopes will “assume greater responsibility as a stakeholder in the international system, commensurate with its growing economic, military, and soft power.”[WaPo]
This sounds eerily similar to the mantra passed by Uncle Ben to Peter Parker aka Spiderman.
With great power comes great responsibility.
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Responsibility?
Mr Gates has a point. There are some ‘responsibilities’ that India ought to shoulder given its own interests. Beyond that, hmm, perhaps the cart should follow the horse. The most tangible manifestation of the horse is reform of the UN Security Council, and also the World Bank and IMF (seats reserved for Europeans…why?).
Pragmatic, isn’t it turning the comment on its head like our eminent journalists do on english tv news channels routinely?
Asking someone to take more responsibility is sending an invitation to join the game. It doesn’t mean anything about why someone is not playing the game. I know you, generally, have nothing positive to say about India or its army. But there was no spin in what Gates said.
Nitin, IMF have seats for Europeans because it was created to help Europe after WWII – stabilizing currencies and what not. What IMF does now has nothing to do with why it was created, but the bosses continue to have power and seats.
@Chandra:
…isn’t it turning the comment on its head like our eminent journalists do on english tv news channels routinely?
No. I said it as I saw it. It is Gates lecturing India that if it wants seat at the big table, it should start contributing more substantially towards what world [aka US?] believes in.
It doesn’t mean anything about why someone is not playing the game.
If Gates “hopes that India will assume greater responsibility”, it obviously means that India is not taking its share of responsibility now. Yes, India is playing the game, but not upto the level the US feels is “commensurate with its growing economic, military, and soft power.”
…there was no spin in what Gates said.
Exactly! It is a call for India to be more active and raise the stakes. It is not fully incorrect also. While the economic policy is more in tune with the rest of the world, India’s foreign policy is still caught between the hollow idealism of the NAM era and realities of a unipolar world in the modern era. We need a strong political vision to get us out of this morass.
However, the guiding principle has to be India’s national interest not some pontification about global responsibility. If we need to support Iran against the US (hypothetically speaking) in our interests we should not hesitate to do so. On the other hand, if sending soldiers to Iraq or Afghanistan along side US military by withdrawing from the UN mission is in our interests, we should not hesitate to go there.
As in politics, justifications are not that difficult to fabricate in international affairs.