View: The significance of Blinken's Delhi visit

Antony Blinken’s first visit to India as secretary of State may have been short in duration, but it was long on delivery. Forward movement was registered on key issues — Afghanistan, Indo-Pacific and vaccine production. And the two sides managed a respectful conversation on democracy and human rights.A sign of maturing relations, no doubt, but also of the sensible approach Joe Biden’s A Team brings to the table. A willingness to listen, adjust and respond is apparent in how Blinken, National Security Adviser (NSA) Jake Sullivan and other top officials do diplomacy. They are winning admirers in ‘official’ New Delhi as the ‘best and the brightest’ of their generation.First, Blinken and S Jaishankar had a good conversation on Afghanistan. The Indian minister has been travelling recently, assessing and exploring possibilities of what can be done regionally. No one likes the Taliban rampage as reports of atrocities pile up. The best one can hope for is a stalemate as Afghan forces regroup and fight back. The downside: blame for a hasty pullout will land at Biden’s door and Blinken’s job is to salvage what he can.His message from New Delhi to the Taliban was strong and the Doha crowd will no doubt take note. ‘An Afghanistan that does not respect the rights of its people, an Afghanistan that commits atrocities against its own people, would become a pariah state,’ Blinken said. If Taliban leaders want sanctions lifted and travel freely, they should come to the negotiating table.Afghanistan dominated the discussion, taking up 50% of the time, while China consumed most of the rest. Neither minister named Pakistan in public except Jaishankar’s indirect reference to ‘malign influences’ in Afghanistan, but behind closed doors, its incessant double games were discussed.Here in Washington, Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuf is playing victim, trying to sell the story that Taliban fighters are ‘not’ in Pakistan and impossible to locate. Yusuf met Sullivan last week under the watchful eye of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief Faiz Hameed, and went on to give an overly effusive readout on Twitter without mentioning Afghanistan. The US response was somewhat curt.Said Sullivan, ‘We discussed the urgent need for a reduction in violence in Afghanistan and a negotiated political settlement to the conflict.’ Thing is, Pakistan is desperately seeking a role in a rapidly changing scenario — even China decided to host the Taliban after the attack on Chinese workers in Pakistan instead of going through the good offices of its ‘iron brother’.Back in Delhi, Blinken and Jaishankar exchanged notes on China and discussed ways to deepen the Quad, one of which is a new focus on economic and business ties. India recently hosted the first Indo-Pacific Business Summit to bring together government reps, business chambers, area experts and academics to encourage economic linkages in the region. Participants from 21 countries attended.The idea is to create ‘a genuine culture’ of working together and build comfort levels to allow big things to happen. The India-US relationship is a good example — the civil nuclear agreement came out of tentative discussions on problem areas in hi-tech trade. Turned out that American doors were shut because of India’s stance on the nuclear issue. Trying to resolve that led to an initial agreement, out of which came the nuclear deal.To maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific, countries of the region — here’s looking at you Asean — must get more connected and develop a roadmap if they are worried about Chinese hegemony. There’s plenty to work on: climate, trade, healthcare.Finally, one issue that many thought would prove an irritant during Blinken’s visit — human rights and how to nurture them in trying times — didn’t cause an upset. Good thing Blinken doesn’t lecture unlike US officials in ‘before’ times. He admits US failings, its continuing struggle for a ‘perfect union’ and has invited UN rapporteurs to examine racial tensions. His approach is humble as it is smart.Jaishankar, for his part, is determined to project confidence as Narendra Modi’s foreign minister. His public remarks made clear that India is not a defendant and the US government not a judge in the ongoing case on democratic freedoms. The argument goes something like this: if the US is still grappling with the legacy of the Civil War, India is dealing with the aftermath of the Partition. Domestic politics are complex in both countries and compulsions of one are no more or less important than those of the other.The debate will continue, but, right now, strategic needs get top billing. As Blinken said, ‘…few relationships in the world that are more vital than the one between the United States and India.’

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