Will turmoil in India's eastern front suit Trump's America?
BJP is talking about 'Deep state' in US; and this is crucial
New Delhi
"The era of American global leadership is over," - John Gray, British philosopher said after the 2008 economic crisis.
Gravitational pull takes one downwards -- come what may and that's the Law of Physics and also life. Americans are also realising it these days. China has emerged as a major competitor to the US economically. Russia had gone to war and stuck to it despite UN resolutions and western powers ordering sanctions. India keeps buying Russian oil and BRICS is an emerging force.
There was a time when the US wishes were global diktats. America was the real superpower. But no longer in that sense as things are changing. Lately, people are talking about US intentions in Bangladesh.
In 2023, the then Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina had told a press conference : “I don’t want to return to power by leasing out St Martin’s Island”.
Located within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Bangladesh and giving access to valuable marine resources like oil, gas, and fish; the island's proximity is a potential offshore oil and gas reserves.
India was eyeing this from an overall foreign policy point of view for all economic and geo-strategic importance.
The friendship with Hasina (had she continued in power) would have given certain advantage to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plans.
But her ouster has left New Delhi irked. But has it helped the US?
The new regime in Dhaka is allegedly close to the 'deep state' in the US. That means China too may not be very pleased with what all is going on in Bangladesh.
Way back in 2003, the then US envoy to Bangladesh, Mary Ann Peters, had said that her country “has no plans, no requirement, and no desire for a military base on St. Martin’s Island, Chittagong, or anywhere else in Bangladesh”.
That means these issues are not new and never a post-Modi Govt or post-Hasina ouster phenomenon.
The US and various power centres in Europe are now in the grip of a downward spiral.
The depression in the west has been periodic. The 2008 crisis came largely owing to bank failures, then Covid in 2020 and then came the Russia-Ukraine war.
To top it all, the US has mega trade issues with China.
Hence, to suggest that the US would be interested in a 'gas base' in St Martin island is not telling any fictional tale. Whether the US is really involved in Bangladesh in the manner it is alleged;- of course - remains to be seen.
Similarly, the BJP's recent Twitter postings -- that from 2023 until now, the OCCRP has published around 5-7 articles targeting industrialist Gautam Adani - should also have some reasons.
"Prior to targeting Adani, OCCRP had a similar focus on Putin. A clear pattern appears to be emerging," said the BJP. The material used by the Congress party to target the Modi government was provided by OCCRP, the Europe-based investigative journalism group, it said.
Of course, the US has denied the charge of being 'anti-Narendra Modi'. But it is also true that Modi-bashing has thrived in the last decade in more ways than one in a section of western media.
However, Indian commentators blamed the so-called Left-liberal ecosystem and China directly and indirectly. This version has been somewhat challenged.
China is not at all ready in 2024 or 2025 to "try something silly" that could antagonize India, Lt Gen Abhay Krishna (Retd) told 'Nagaland Page' here.
"India and China, along with Russia, are showing a growing interest in working on mutual concerns. What are BRICS and SCO all about?," argued Lt Gen Abhay Krishna (Retd).
The charge that the 'deep state' was keen for a 'Christian state' carving out of Myanmar, India and Bangladesh needed detailed probe and analyses by experts from different schools of thought.
Mandarins in Delhi feel the statements from Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma in September, 2024 about a 'Zo land' need not be viewed as 'anti-India' because a Chief Minister in office knows the importance of oath and taking pledge towards the Indian Constitution.
Lalduhoma also left a crucial message for the 'deep state' !
ends
(Views are personal)
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