Indian Foreign Policy and Cultural Values by Kadira Pethiyagoda

Author:Kadira Pethiyagoda
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030546960
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Pluralism and Tolerance

State Behaviour

Pluralism and tolerance impacted Congress’s nuclear policy. Continuing the BJP’s practice, Congress emphasised the shared values of pluralism when justifying nuclear cooperation with other states. Former Foreign Secretary Saran (2010a) stated that Japan and India were vibrant democracies with an interest in peace. Saran cited the two countries’ ‘deep cultural affinity due to our shared Buddhist heritage’.

India’s pluralistic image had an impact on the US’s decision to increase cooperation. At the very least, India’s pluralist democratic society provided a moral reason which US leaders could tout to justify their nuclear support for India. India’s pluralism was likened to America’s. President Bush stated at the Indo-US Nuclear Deal’s signing ceremony that ‘The United States and India are natural partners’ and that ‘today, America and India are united by deeply held values’ (‘Bush Signs India Nuclear Law’, 2006, Washington Post, 19 December). Undersecretary of State Armitage said that ‘it would be unreasonable for a multi-ethnic, multi-religious democratic federation like the US not to have a more robust relationship with a multi-ethnic, multi-religious democratic federation like India’ (‘Sanctions Imposed on India Will Come Off Soon: Armitage’, 2001, Press Trust of India, 18 August; ‘Indo-US Relations to Be Robust: Richard Armitage’, 2001, Pakistan Newswire, 18 August).

Other democracies also cited India’s pluralistic and democratic credentials in justifying cooperation. This included Canada and Australia (Krishnaswami 2001; ‘Labor Left Concedes Defeat on Uranium Ban’, 2011, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 November).

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