The Author is Former Director General of Information Systems and A Special Forces Veteran, Indian Army

American General Jack Keane, former US Army Chief has recently stated that the US has invested “only” about $66 billion in Ukraine since February 2022 to arm Ukraine and set up local society for war with Russia, which is very profitable “because for relatively little money in the interests of the US, not Americans die in the war with Russia, but Ukrainians….But we have a budget of $6 trillion, and, in fact, it is several hundred billion more. We invested crumbs in Ukraine – only $66 billion a year. This is 1.1 per cent of the budget. And we get disproportionately large benefits.” He went on to say that the aim was to prevent Russia influencing Eastern Europe.

Tulsi Gabbard, who served as the US representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021 and is also a US Army reserve officer, while recently quitting the Democrats has called the present day American Democrats an “Elitist Cabal of War Mongers”. Another scholar says, “The hawks in America’s Joe Biden Administration are the neo conservatives and the White Roman Catholics. Biden, his Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, are all in this category.

US has no compunctions about Ukrainians getting killed by the thousands and the country getting reduced to rubble – all to make money from the war and to reduce Russia’s military potential and economy

However, despite the Anglo-Saxon Front against Russia, the US has no compunctions about Ukrainians getting killed by the thousands, millions of Ukrainians refugees and the country getting reduced to rubble – all to make money from the war and the attempt to reduce Russia’s military potential and economy. Yet, the US wants to tame India in order to make India fall in line with American policies and its sic slogan of ‘Rule Based Order’.

America’s $450 million F-16 package to Pakistan, calling F-16 a tool for counter terrorism, has been covered in these columns earlier. This, together with other recent moves by the Biden Administration indicate that Washington wants to boost Pakistan in order to keep India under check, possibly also through increased volume of terror attacks. Pakistani Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa was recently summoned to Washington for consultations, where he also held discussions with the CIA Director. Bajwa has been America’s blue-eyed having played a crucial role in ouster of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, aiding the US in killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, as well as handling of the Taliban, ISIS-K and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan.

Since January 2021, no US ambassador has been posted to India. On the other hand, Donald Blome, the US ambassador to Pakistan recently visited Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the US Embassy in Islamabad highlighted PoK as a disputed region – referring to it as Azad Kashmir through a series of tweets. One tweet by the US Embassy on October 2, 2022, read “The Quaid-e-Azam Memorial Dak Bungalow symbolises the cultural and historical richness of Pakistan and was famously visited by Jinnah in 1944. I am honored to visit during my first trip to AJK.” – DB #AmbBlome #PakUSAt75

US ambassador to Pakistan recently visited Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the US Embassy in Islamabad highlighted PoK as a disputed region – referring to it as Azad Kashmir

There is a delay of up to two years in grant of visa to Indians desirous of visiting US while the visitors from China are granted visa in two days flat despite the fact that the US supposedly plans to deal with China similar to how it is presently dealing with Russians through the Ukraine conflict, the Biden Administration has also issued Travel Advisory to US citizens to exercise “increased caution” while travelling to India claiming “crime and terrorism” as the reason and advice not to travel to J&K despite the region being thronged by India tourists. The question being asked is whether this travel advisory to US citizens is prelude to terror attacks in J&K which the US is aware of. The manner in which the US has engineered the death and destruction in Ukraine indicates, it will go to any length to tether India to Washington.

Two US Coast Guard ships, USCGC ‘Charles Moulthrope’ and USCGC ‘Emlen Tunnell’, made a scheduled port call at Karachi, Pakistan, from October 6 to 9 to further cement the strong relationship between the forces of the two countries. According to US Naval Forces, US Central Command, these two Coast Guard ships are forward-deployed to the US 5th Fleet to support the protection of maritime stability and security throughout the Middle East.

Perhaps the US does want to use India to ‘assist’ it in countering China. However, the preference would be to keep India destabilised, making it malleable to US demands; and the best scenario an Indi-China war.

India abstained from voting for a US-sponsored UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution slamming Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory, which was no surprise given the close India-Russia relations. At the same time, a dispassionate analysis also indicates that whenever the US has supported India at the United Nations, whether to designate Pakistani radicals as “terrorists” or India’s permanent membership to the UNSC, it is with full knowledge that the move will be vetoed by China. Has the US ever asked Pakistan to “handover any terrorist designated by the US with a price over his head”? The answer is no, which clearly shows the facade being played.

It would be difficult to name a country that wants a ‘strong’ India – definitely not the West and the US in particular. Perhaps the US does want to use India to ‘assist’ it in countering China. However, the preference would be to keep India destabilised, making it malleable to US demands; and the best scenario an Indi-China war; a la’ Ukraine of the Indo-Pacific, substituting Indian lives for Ukrainian lives, not American, as explained by US General Jack Keane above. The US is cosying up to Pakistan with an eye on both India and Afghanistan. India should expect turbulence ahead, including in the run up to the general elections in 2024 because the US has a stake in the future of India and it believes in ‘might is right’.