Arshad Mamud, FB: You must have seen on television the sequined green gown Jill Biden, the first lady, wore while welcoming the Indian prime minister along with her husband at the White House. What many of you perhaps do not know the revealing story behind that sparking emerald green dress? 

Resplendent in her gorgeous dress, Dr Jill was all glee at the state dinner. The green gown, as I came to learn, was designed by Ralph Lauren, the world famous designer. The first lady and her handlers seemed overjoyed by what Lauren delivered. So much so that the designer not only made it to the exclusive 400-guest list, he was given a perch at the head table.

This gargantuan event, preceded by Modi’s address to a joint session of Congress, a rare honor, is enough to explain the extraordinary length Biden administration had gone to court the Indian prime minister. 

To be sure, it just didn’t happen out of the blue. In fact, it crowned months of fawning assessments by high-profile American business leaders and officials including Bill Gates, Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Of course, the clout of the highly influential Indian diaspora played a decisive role.

The question many of you may be asking—why Narendra Modi, especially when in recent times is eliciting blistering criticism from American media,  is being coddled by America ?

As you’re aware, It’s now more or less an established fact that Modi, armed with a sharp-edged doctrine of Hindu nationalism, has presided over what Maya Jasanoff, a Harvard History professor, wrote in the New York Times: “the nation’s broadest assault on democracy, civil society and minority rights in at least 40 years. He has delivered prosperity and national pride to some, and authoritarianism and repression of many others that should disturb us all”. 

Herself of Indian origin (she’s actually a Bengali from her mother’s side. Both her parents and a brother, are all Harvard professors). Jasanoff is visibly disturbed by the dangerous, continuing erosion of democratic values and muzzling of independent media, free speech and judiciary. Indeed, anyone with an iota of conscience should react the way Prof Jasanoff has. But not the American administration and more specifically, the special interest, which Gen Eisenhower dubbed as the politico-military-industrial complex.

So you must not be fooled by the avowed public pronouncements of American ideals—democracy, free speech, rule of law, human rights and blah, blah, blah. In fact, they’re all bunkum— pure and simple BS. 

In my research, I’ve not found a single instance where America has supported or promoted democracy anywhere in the world in the past 70 years. On the country, it has coddled dictators with deep pockets, even if that required overthrowing, assassinating populist leaders or siding with genocidal regimes in Iran, Congo, East Pakistan, Chile, to name a few. 

So the bottom line: America must protect its interest—first and foremost and the American media and establishment call it realpolitik. Bluntly put, that interest is the protection and promotion of corporations, defense industry, Wall Street. 

On the surface, Modi’s unusual reception at the White House and Congress primarily involved China: In Cold War II with China, the United States wants India on its side, besides the huge Indian market.

Fair enough. That’s understandable and given India’s historical rivalry with China, it’s natural for America to exploit that rivalry to its full advantage. In plain language, it means America is prepared to go to any length to contain china, given its growing economic and military might that threaten to eclipse America as the preeminent super power.

As the world is becoming more restive and turbulent because of America’s myopic foreign policy, I often wonder why successive American leaders couldn’t use their enormous resources and power to spread peace instead of conflict around the world,

President Biden could have done that after the defeat of Donald Trump three years ago. Sadly, though, he squandered that opportunity by embracing the same disastrous policy of containing China like his much-maligned predecessor.

Just recall his first trip overseas after winning the 2020 election: Five months after entering the White House, in June 2021, Biden traveled to Brussels on his maiden overseas trip to meet with other NATO leaders and there he delivered a blunt message—America is back, he said in a pointed slight to his predecessor, who vowed to disengage from the military alliance.

In that message, he also declared that the free world must contain China at any cost in order to uphold freedom, democracy and rules-based international order, a euphemism for American dominance of the rest of the world. 

When I heard him say that I wondered aloud why he couldn’t emphasize on the word “cooperation, instead of confrontation”, with China? That one word “cooperation” could have ushered in a new era of global peace and prosperity.

Of course, I was naïve. The thing is Biden, despite his public image of being soft and caring, does not control the levers of power. He actually represents the special interests that run the show from behind. And they want conflict and instability because that ensures continued flow of money to their coffers.

Just think about the hundreds of billions of dollar the defense contractors and oil companies have made in profits from the ongoing Ukraine conflict.