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President Obama’s chief of intelligence says the new Modi administration is more decisive on the foreign policy front and may seek stronger ties with Washington. He also said India-Pakistan relations would continue to sour so long as Islamabad provided succour to Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and that New Delhi was concerned Afghanistan would turn into a safe haven for anti-India terror groups groomed in Pakistan.
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, in his written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee Feb. 26, indicated he expected an upward trajectory in U.S.-India relations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “decisive leadership style” combined with the 2014 election of an absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, “will enable more decisive
Indian decisionmaking on domestic and foreign policy,” Clapper said in his “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Committee, submitted to the hearing chaired by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona.
Although India has a long-standing position that it maintain an independent policy, Modi will probably seek to work more closely with the United States on security, terrorism, and economic issues, Clapper said. McCain, a strong critic of President Obama’s foreign policy in general, is a great supporter of strengthened strategic defense and economic relations with India.
While India wants to maintain a stable peace with Pakistan it sees that country as a direct terrorism threat and a regional source of instability, Clapper maintaind. India is concerned about the stability of Afghanistan and its own presence there following the drawdown of international forces “and is looking for options to blunt the influence of Pakistani -supported groups and ensure that Afghanistan does not revert to a haven for anti-Indian militants,” national international chief said.
Islamabad, while it wants to establish positive rapport with the new Afghan Government, will not be able to make much progress on that front because of longstanding distrust and unresolved disputes between the two countries, Clapper asserted. The Pakistan Government meanwhile, he predicted, will probably remain focused this year on diminishing the capabilities of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan which claimed the attack on a school in December that left 100 children and several others dead.
“Pakistan’s provision of safe haven to Lashkar-e Tayyiba will probably continue to be a key irritant in relations with India,” Clapper said.
Prime Minister Modi began his term in office by extending a hand of friendship and resuming dialogue only to cancel talks when Pakistan’s high commissioner met separatist leaders in Kashmir on the eve of the talks. Modi resumed the effort following President Obama’s visit to India Jan. 26, where Obama is said to have urged him to continue efforts at dialogue.
Clapper said India would pursue stronger economic ties with China to met its own economic growth goals, but that New Delhi is increasingly concerned over the northern border incidents and the visit of a Chinese submarine to Sri Lanka in 2014.
