Hypocrisy or forgetfulness: US ‘disappointed’ with Modi’s Russia visit, but self-reflection must | Opinion Analysis News
The path that the US had to take to become a global superpower is strewn with innocent bystanders. This is no surprise as the roads to power seldom see flowers of morality growing on their sides. What is especially regrettable and hypocritical about the US is that it lives in denial about this and preaches contrary ethos
Representational Image. (Credit: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images.)
New Delhi: The recent top-level visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Russia, where he met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, has not gone down well with the United States of America.
The US is reportedly disappointed about the symbolism and timing of PM Modi’s Russia visit, a senior State Department official told lawmakers.
Responding to a question from Congressman Joe Wilson, a former co-chair of the Caucus of India and Indian Americans in this regard, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu said, “A clear reference to the bombing of the children’s hospital in Kyiv that happened while he was there. I share your concern about this visit, sir, and we are trying very hard to communicate those concerns directly to the Indians. The Indians, who have cancelled billions of dollars in defence purchases over these last two and a half years because the Russians can’t deliver anymore. So we’re working very hard on that.”
He further added, “I could not agree with you more about our disappointment about the symbolism and the timing of Prime Minister Modi’s trip to Moscow. We are having those tough conversations with our Indian friends.”
Responding to the American sentiments, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at the weekly press briefing on Thursday that, “We must understand that India has a longstanding relationship with Russia that is based on mutuality of interests. In a multipolar world, all country has freedom of choice. It is essential for everybody to be mindful of and appreciate such realities.”
A saga of hypocrisy around the world
“The dimensions of what we have ***ked up in this country are beyond any coherent explanation. It’s beyond any reasonable rage and almost beyond despair—in words, at any rate,” American writer Hunter S Thompson once said. While in the realms of international politics, not many can claim absolute innocence, for the United States of America the charge sheet looks especially complicit in its short, modern history.
The path that the United States of America had to take to become a global superpower is strewn with innocent bystanders. This is no surprise as the roads to power seldom see flowers of morality growing on their sides. What is especially regrettable and hypocritical about the US is that it lives in denial about this and preaches contrary ethos.
The list of US errors are long and with time, the US itself has accepted many of them.
A good place to start is their double standards when it comes to espousing US exceptionalism and their fight for human rights. While on one hand, the US calls out regimes in different parts of the world as autocratic and often also undertake wars against them, they are then found supporting many such regimes for personal benefits.
The best example of this is their support for Saudi Arabia, where they have blindly supported the country’s autocratic government due to oil interests and regional stability. When it comes to the regime’s track record of human rights, the US has consistently turned a blind eye.
These relations between the two countries were formalised under the 1951 Mutual Defense Assistance Agreement and since then, one an Islamic absolute monarchy and another, a secular constitutional republic, have had an enduring truce.
The US provides military protection to the Kingdom in exchange for a reliable oil supply, pricing of oil in U.S. dollars, and support for American foreign policy.
Similarly, the US support for Israel, especially when it is being criticised from all quarters due to their extreme aggressive offensive against Gaza, is perplexing. Their own standards of freedom are nowhere to be seen in their blind pursuit of Israeli support. They have backed the Israeli government, both economically and militarily, even though the war has cost so many lives.
The US intervention of Latin America is also prime example of US hypocrisy. In the early 20th century, during the “Banana Republic” era of Latin American history, the US launched several interventions and invasions in the region to promote American business interests by overthrowing many democratically chosen governments.
US military presence was thus established in Cuba, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. Another major blot on the US’s self-proclaimed flag of righteousness.
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