Editorial 1 : A partnership of democracies
Introduction: India and the United States of America have been close allies for more than two decades. India recently elected the Narendra Modi-led government for the third consecutive term. In the US, the presidential elections are scheduled for November and a new government led by Joe Biden or Donald Trump will be in place in January next year.
Indo-US relation: The Journey from independence to nuclear test
- Although India and the US established diplomatic ties soon after Independence, the relationship had to endure Cold War era distrust and American wrath over India’s nuclear programme.
- The Americans wanted the former British colony to become their ally.
- Nehru’s refusal to do so and his pursuit of an independent foreign policy of non-alignment didn’t go down well with successive US administrations.
- Although the Kennedy government was helpful during the Indo-China war of 1962, and the US extended assistance for India’s Green Revolution, President Richard Nixon openly sided with Pakistan and China during the crucial years of 1969-74.
- Indira Gandhi’s decision to test the first nuclear device in 1974 angered the American leadership, which continued through Bill Clinton’s years in office when India tested a more powerful device during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime in 1998.
The fallback 1998 nuclear test and improvement in Indo-US relation since then
- Credit for steadying the relationship goes to Vajpayee as the prime minister.
- Although the Clinton administration imposed serious sanctions in multiple areas after the Vajpayee government conducted nuclear tests, Clinton’s visit to New Delhi in March 2000 and Vajpayee’s deft diplomatic handling helped diffuse the situation.
- Later that year, Vajpayee was in New York for the UN General Assembly where he addressed the Asiatic Society.
- His famous statement that India and US were “natural allies” became the basis for the new relationship in later years.
- During his visit to the US in 2013, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the US-India partnership in the joint statement with President Obama as “a defining one for the 21st century.”
The exponential growth of Indo-US relations under PM Modi
- Under Prime Minister Modi, this relationship has acquired greater momentum.
- Modi is the only Indian prime minister to have visited the USA eight times in 10 years.
- In their joint statement last June, Modi and Biden affirmed a vision of the US and India as “among the closest partners in the world — a partnership of democracies looking into the 21st century with hope, ambition, and confidence”.
- From “natural allies” to “hope, ambition and confidence” is a great journey of the bilateral partnership, which Modi described as one spanning from the “seas to the stars”.
The concerns in Indo-US relation
1. India’s ‘strategic autonomy’
- There are issues on both sides that cause unease.
- India’s insistence on “strategic autonomy” is raising hackles in foreign policy circles in the US.
- India’s steadfast refusal to consider the Quad as a maritime alliance, something like an Indo-Pacific NATO, too is making sections of the American establishment squirm.
2. USA’s emphasis on AUKUS, at the expense of QUAD
- While there is palpable enthusiasm on the Indian side over the security and development potential of the Quad, the other side appears to see greater merit in pursuing the AUKUS agenda more vigorously.
- Biden’s decision to pull out of the Quad summit in Australia last year and not visit India in January this year for another possible Quad summit led to commentators suspecting deliberate neglect of the arrangement by the US leadership.
- At the same time, AUKUS is rapidly growing as an area of greater strategic interest for Australia, the US and Japan.
- The latest Defence White Paper released by the Australian government speaks at length about cooperation in AUKUS but has a cursory mention of the Quad.
- The possible expansion of AUKUS will also redefine the partnerships among Quad nations.
3. India’s upfront criticism of UN and hypocrisy of west’s ‘rule-based order’
- India’s EAM S Jaishankar’s blatant criticism of UN does not go well in western nations.
- S Jaishankar lashing out of UN, which some called “bold” while others saw in its India’s growing “belligerence”.
- In a clear message to the West over the much-touted argument about “rules-based order”, Jaishankar cautioned that “rule makers should not subjugate rule takers” and “rules will work only when they apply equally to all”.
- Indirectly referring to the turn taken by the Khalistan issue in the US and Canada, he came down heavily, saying that “political convenience” is determining responses to terrorism and extremism.
- “When reality departs from the rhetoric, we must have the courage to call it out”, he said, highlighting the “sentiment of the Global South” that “without genuine solidarity, there can never be trust”.
Conclusion: Growing global challenges, including the rise of China and the unfolding new Cold War-like situation call for greater understanding and coordinated action between the US and India — two powers committed to the same ideals in two different geo-strategic locations. That understanding will decide the future trajectory of the relationship.
Editorial 2 : The marriage penalty
Introduction: A Reuters investigation of Apple iPhone maker Foxconn’s assembly headquarters in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur has thrown up anomalies in the hiring process – married women are apparently rejected on grounds of pregnancy, family commitments, greater number of leaves or, as one former HR executive with the firm told the journalists, “Cultural issues”, including and not limited to wearing jewellery that interferes with the production process.
The labour exploitation of Foxconn
- Over the years, Foxconn’s track record as an employer has come under scrutiny, especially in China, where its biggest iPhone plant operates out of Zhengzhou and where a spate of employee suicides over a decade ago had led to an investigation of working conditions and terms.
Foxconn’s damage control
- With the present report on India, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has sought a report from the Tamil Nadu labour department, prompting Foxconn to come out with an informal statement that reiterates its commitment to equality in the workplace.
- Twenty-five per cent of their recent hires, it says, have been married women.
- With roughly 70 per cent women employees, its Tamil Nadu firm is the largest factory for female employment in the country, with total employment touching 45,000 workers at its peak.
Female workforce struggles, despite resurgence of interest among political parties for female votes
- In India, where political parties have focused on women as a constituency and where the PM has repeatedly reiterated his government’s commitment to gender parity, equality often continues to be notional — women’s labour force participation stood at 32.7 per cent in 2023 vis-a-vis 76.8 per cent for men.
- The loopholes are many and the struggle to enforce it on the ground is bogged down by an inhibiting process perpetuated by a profound lack of imagination.
The ‘affirmative action’ for women is harming their interests
- A report about Foxconn showed a recruiter rejecting an applicant's question about childcare in Sriperumbudur, implying married women were not welcome.
- This lack of imagination discourages companies from providing childcare options, which could benefit both parents.
- Companies use excuses like fewer work hours or more leave requests by women as reasons not to address childcare needs.
- This reinforces existing gender pay gaps and discourages women from pursuing careers due to lack of support.
Who should be blamed?
- This failure is not that of the government or of the political parties alone.
- It begins with individuals and families and seeps into organisations, from society into governments.
- Far too many women are told that they are “fortunate” to have families that “allow” them to work outside or have partners who help around the house.
- Even more are expected to return home after a long day and see to its smooth functioning.
- The Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2023 report by UN Women and UNDESA warned that unless measures were taken, an entire generation of women would end up spending a disproportionate amount of time on housework in comparison to men, hemmed in by prejudicial norms.
- For India to emerge as the third-largest economy in the world that puts women at the centre of change, it will need to reorient its metrics of assessment.
Conclusion: There is a proverb that generations of Bengali women have grown up listening to and believing in: Je raadhe, she chul-o bnadhe (The one who cooks also takes care of her appearance). In essence, that multi-tasking comes innately to women. There would, doubtless, be equivalents of this in other Indian languages, powering women on to do more, to take on more, because they can. This represents a very sorry state for women in India.