In his article “What can India do?” (October 11) Sanjaya Baru has drawn attention to the contrast between the recent vote in the US House of Representatives warning China on its currency policy and the voting out by the Senate of the anti-outsourcing legislation that would have hurt India. It may be a bit premature to view this as a possible tilt in the US policy towards India. It is quite likely that the Senate will vote out the Bill about China’s exchange rate policy passed by the House of Representatives.
However, his suggestion that India make its relationship with the US more strategic than transactional is relevant. He has suggested both countries work with like-minded plural and secular countries to build a safer world. Of course, the the US’ record so far, given its support to many repressive and even fundamentalist regimes, is not indicative of its commitment to building plural and secular societies. However, India and the US have a common strategic interest in containing the growing global influence of China. One of the ways to ensure a safer world is to strive for a multi-polar world. At present, the US may be compelled to stop considering itself the only superpower in the world and team up with countries such as India to counter a growing China.
Vijay Nadkarni, Mumbai