Obama and the Balance Change in the Peninsula

American president Barack Obama has started his tour of Asia. He will be visiting India, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia.

The important fact about Obama’s Asian tour is his trip to India. Though the main aspect of his trip concerns economic, military and nuclear negotiations, there is also a major point: America’s view of the changes in the peninsula by India and Pakistan.

America’s policies in the past few decades show that Washington has always maintained an informal balance between India and Pakistan in a way that the economic, military and bilateral relations were designed to give an equal share to each country. In this policy, India and Pakistan were America’s two balance weights in the region, and Washington used their capacities to achieve its own goals. Now, the major point in America’s policy is its bias toward India with the cooperation of other Western countries.

A few instances of America’s bias include increasing political and economic cooperation and signing huge military contracts; signing nuclear deals despite the fact that India is not a member of the IAEA; supporting crackdowns in India, especially in the Kashmir region; helping to stabilize India’s borders; ending the Sri Lankan crisis; encouraging European countries to expand relations with India; putting the pressure on Pakistan as the root of the security crisis in the region and in India; affirming India’s role in international issues …

About this biased policy, we can say that America is starting to increase its presence in Southeast Asia. Eastern countries, especially India and China, have a special place in America’s strategic doctrine, and America should start harnessing them as early as possible.

In such circumstances, we can say that by showing bias toward India, Washington is trying to create a new balance in the region to reduce the power of Pakistan, harness Russia and China, pit India and China against each other, expand NATO to the East and use India’s 1 billion people to conquer America’s financial crisis …Though we should consider the fact that expanding relationships with India will result in India’s dependence on America and harnessing its power in the long term.

In the end, we can conclude that American officials, including President Obama, are following their own interests in India and starting conflicts in the Indian peninsula. But America still faces a serious challenge in the country: The negative perspective of the Indian people toward the U.S.