{"id":17946,"date":"2015-01-23T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2015-01-22T19:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=17946"},"modified":"2015-05-19T20:18:02","modified_gmt":"2015-05-19T10:18:02","slug":"symbolism-and-strategy-on-26-january","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/symbolism-and-strategy-on-26-january\/","title":{"rendered":"Symbolism and strategy on 26 January"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"President<\/a><\/figure>\n

Mention 26 January and the thoughts of Australians jump quickly to barbeques, beaches and cricket. But this post isn\u2019t about Australia Day. Many<\/a> Australians will be aware that Indians celebrate their Republic Day on 26 January. This year, the 66th since the Indian constitution entered into force in 1950, will be no different. Festivities in New Delhi will centre around the Republic Day Parade, a showcase of the country\u2019s defence capabilities\u2014\u2018the glories and follies old and new of the Indian armed forces, from camel regiments to tanks to ballistic missiles<\/a>\u2019\u2014alongside the lush diversity of Indian culture. Moreover, Barack Obama is set to attend this year\u2019s parade as the invited chief guest, the first time a US president has received the honour. Obama\u2019s attendance represents a diplomatic coup for Indian PM Narendra Modi. It\u2019s yet another sign that relations between India and the US are being reinvigorated, and serves as a reminder of the foreign policy dynamism Modi has displayed since his election last May.<\/p>\n

The Republic Day parade will be rich in symbolism for both leaders. The imagery of an American president watching on as India flexes its military muscle won\u2019t escape the attention of India\u2019s neighbours. That Obama\u2019s trip\u00a0marks the first time a US president has visited India twice while in office (he visited in 2010) will bring additional diplomatic cachet. The chief guest role will offer simple yet important sponsorship of the \u2018rebalance\u2019; it\u2019ll similarly illustrate Modi\u2019s support for a continuing American role in Asia.<\/p>\n

Obama\u2019s trip to India comes just four months after Modi was in the US\u2014a sign of the momentum in the bilateral relationship. The joint statement<\/a> that came out of Modi\u2019s September visit illustrated steady progress on a range of security issues. The decision was taken to renew for another 10 years the 2005 Framework for the US\u2013India Defense Relationship, and pledges were made to enhance counter-terrorism cooperation, to deepen military-to-military contact, and to \u2018upgrade\u2019 the Malabar naval exercise. The statement reiterated support for India\u2019s phased entry to the key non-proliferation regimes and established a contact group to push forward on civil nuclear cooperation. That Ashton Carter, Obama\u2019s SECDEF nominee, has long championed US\u2013India relations and seems a popular pick<\/a> in India is unlikely to do the relationship any harm. Still, real challenges to closer US\u2013India relations remain: distraction and competing priorities for Obama, and an historical commitment to strategic autonomy for Modi.<\/p>\n

Modi\u2019s decision to invite Obama recalls the symbolism and strategy of former Indian PM Manmohan Singh\u2019s hosting of Japanese PM Shinz\u014d Abe as chief guest last year. High expectations were attached to Abe\u2019s 2014 visit, given his long-standing admiration of India and belief in the great potential of the bilateral relationship. (In his 2006 book, Abe wrote, \u2018it would not surprise me if in another decade Japan\u2013India relations overtake US\u2013Japan and Japan\u2013China ties.\u2019)<\/p>\n

The Japan\u2013India embrace has tightened considerably since last May; the Abe\u2013Modi bonhomie runs deep beyond bearhugs<\/a>. Both are nationalistic, conservative leaders; both were elected with mandates to restart their economies and reclaim lost pride; and both are playing for a greater role in underwriting peace and stability in the Asia\u2013Pacific. Both PMs are apprehensive about China\u2019s rise\u2014historical tensions and territorial disputes abound\u2014on the back of which they\u2019ve sought to engage more with the US, regional partners and multilateral security architectures. The upgraded \u2018Special Strategic and Global Partnership\u2019 that resulted from Modi\u2019s 5-day visit to Tokyo last September bore witness to growing affinity and shared ambition; so too did last week\u2019s strategic dialogue between foreign ministers, brought back into play after two years on the bench. As Abe increases military spending for a third consecutive year (following 11 years of decline), the steady development of a balancing arc between Tokyo and New Delhi, across China, is an indication of the \u2018proactive contribution\u2019 to regional peace and stability that both leaders seek to make.<\/p>\n

While the US has been drawn to various global flash points, the rebalance has quietly trundled along. It has become a standard administration line to encourage allies and partners in the Asia\u2013Pacific to deepen and broaden cooperation. So the Asian elements of the one-time Quad<\/a>\u2014Japan, India and Australia\u2014are holding the line in this respect. Australia should continue to aver strong support for the more active role that both Japan and India, separately and together, seek to play in the region. And with a freshly minted Framework for Security Cooperation<\/a> with India and a \u2018quasi-alliance<\/a>\u2019 with Japan, Australia should look for and jump at opportunities to foster cooperation. What happens in and from those relationships will serve as important support for a US rebalance that\u2019s materially underway but politically underpowered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mention 26 January and the thoughts of Australians jump quickly to barbeques, beaches and cricket. But this post isn\u2019t about Australia Day. Many Australians will be aware that Indians celebrate their Republic Day on 26 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":17947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[118],"tags":[17,176,69,129,135,1055,821,31],"class_list":["post-17946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia-and-its-region","tag-australia","tag-barack-obama","tag-india","tag-indian-ocean","tag-japan","tag-narendra-modi","tag-security-cooperation","tag-united-states"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSymbolism and strategy on 26 January | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/symbolism-and-strategy-on-26-january\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Symbolism and strategy on 26 January | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mention 26 January and the thoughts of Australians jump quickly to barbeques, beaches and cricket. 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