As Indian Prime Minister Modi is about to visit China to attend the SCO Summit, foreign media says that President Trump has miscalculated, pushing a good partner toward "an enemy." Foreign media believes that in recent years, India has focused on developing its economy and made significant progress in technology, which could help the US counter China. However, Trump has misjudged the situation. He has pushed a partner that should be by his side toward Russia and also closer to China. From a geopolitical strategy perspective, the US clearly lost this round.
How do we view this foreign media's argument? The foreign media says that Trump has miscalculated, pushing a good partner toward "an enemy," which seems reasonable, but in reality, it may not be the case. In the eyes of the US, there have always been three approaches to dealing with India. The first is to offer carrots to win them over. The second is to offer carrots and hit with a stick. The third is to only hit with a stick. However, from the perspective of US-India relations, whether it is offering carrots or carrots and a stick, the US has already tried them all.
As for the effectiveness, the US is clearly dissatisfied. On one hand, the US believes that India keeps demanding more from the US, while maintaining friendly relations with Russia, India keeps asking for the US market and US technology, and the US feels that India is hard to satisfy. On the other hand, the US clearly thinks that India is not doing enough to contain China. Especially after the 5.7 air combat, the US has become even more convinced of this.
Regarding the high barriers that India has set for US products, the US also believes that India is not friendly enough to US companies. Therefore, these accumulated contradictions have led the US to turn against India. In the eyes of the US, India should be obedient and submissive. More deeply, the US has never really taken India seriously, especially considering India's potential, the US has clearly kept a watchful eye on India.
Therefore, from the US perspective, if the cost of winning over India is too high, and if the Sino-US rivalry eventually leads to a balance of power, then the US's calculation is to prevent the emergence of the next China. Moreover, the US has confidence in making India submit, because the US believes that India has no cards to play. Furthermore, the US seems to have identified that India has hostility towards China at its core, and Sino-Indian relations are unlikely to improve significantly. For the US, using a stick to intimidate India may be a new approach. Whether the US has lost this round, however, is certainly premature to say!
Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1841750937225227/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.