Future of US-Indian relations and drawing terrorist map in Asia

Nahla Abdel Moneim

The political steps of the vacuum do not govern, but are determined carefully, which applies to US President Donald Trump’s visit to India on February 24, 2020 and his talk about fighting terrorism in the region and his announcement of cooperation with New Delhi in this regard a few days before he signed an agreement expected years ago with the extremist Asian neighbor, the Taliban.

During the meeting that brought together Trump and the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, the first stressed the role of India in confronting Islamist groups in the region, noting that Washington has a common ideology with New Delhi in this war, especially its leadership of the international coalition against ISIS in Syria and Iraq and the destruction of 100 percent of its alleged caliphate.

Consequently, according to Trump, the two countries have a common challenge to confront political Islam movements, and they are also looking to control

extremism which is rampant in the Asian region.

Indian media described it as new cooperation between the two countries to confront extremist elements that pose a threat to their country from Pakistan, specifically the disputed Kashmir between the two countries.

The two levels of cooperation are many aspects of joint benefit from the visit, whether on the economic, commercial or political level, except that the file of political Islam.

The fight against terrorism has cast a shadow over the new era of cooperation between the two countries, which is what we focus on on this visit.

Hence, two main variables emerge of the issue, the first of which is the Kashmir region and the importance it represents for India and its impact on its security and the threat to its interests.

Pakistan is a sponsor of terrorist and extremist groups in the region while India suffers from the exploitation of the file by China as a counter tool in its disputes with its Asian neighbor, which was shown by the inclusion of Masoud Azhar, the Kashmiri leader, on the terrorism list, as Beijing used its veto to prevent its inclusion in the list.

In this, Washington and New Delhi’s destinations are shared in terms of destabilizing China and undermining its influence in the region on the one hand, and on the other hand, fighting terrorist movements are exploiting political conflicts between countries.

As for the second variable, it is linked to the Taliban, which has multiple relations with China and Russia, the traditional enemies of Washington as the United States sees India in a unified ally with regard to the relations of the Islamist movements.

Failed chart

In light of the complex intertwining of the political geography of terrorist movements in the region, the Reference continues with political researcher Muhammad Faraj Abu Al-Nur, who indicated that Washington is seeking in turn to strengthen its alliance with India in the face of the Taliban, Pakistan and China, the movement’s main allies.

This scheme is destined to fail because the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in itself is not safe.

Abu Al-Nur believes that the Taliban will not honor their pledges to the agreement with Washington, and there are not enough and specific guarantees, that is, the United States.

It seeks to employ India in the new strategic map after the withdrawal, and it also takes advantage of the dispute between Pakistan, which sponsors terrorism to a large extent, to win over the latter in its war on terrorism, but it will not be able, because New Delhi will have little impact on the land of Afghanistan, but on the one hand to confront China, Washington has a policy towards alliances and shaping matters while ignoring the growing and interrelated political reality on Asian soil.

The researcher also pointed out that the American visit to India is not only related to the timing factor or the file of political Islam, but also has other economic and military goals such as a $3 billion arms deal between them, as well as strategic goals.