The “historic” agreement between India and the U.S., in the form of LEMOA, will no doubt have implications for the balance of power in Asia (“Merely a logistics pact?” Sept.5). The U.S. is a slippery customer and will always want to have the upper hand. In India’s neighbourhood, warmer ties among China-Pakistan-Russia should make New Delhi wake up. It should not distance itself from long-term ally Russia. With the South China Sea becoming a hotspot, India has to play its cards wisely.
Raunak Agarwal,Kanpur
A good relationship with the U.S. has always been an essential ingredient of Narendra Modi’s foreign policy outlook, but does he realise that this needs to be tempered with prudence as Washington is an avid practitioner of the art of realpolitik? For instance, when U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry was in India, he did warn Pakistan about the need to eliminate terror hubs but deftly balanced it by saying that Pakistan itself has been a victim of terrorism! LEMOA may be in place, but there are doubts whether the U.S. will be ready to supply high-end military hardware unless India signs the foundational agreements. It is worth recalling Winston Churchill’s quote: “You can always trust the Americans. In the end they will always do the right thing, after they have eliminated all the possibilities”.
Kangayam R. Narasimhan,Chennai
