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The right wing Opposition party in India, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is considered to be pro US and Israel largely by India as well as the non-resident Indians in the US. This is largely due to the pro-Hindu policies practiced by the BJP as opposed to the secular policies of the ruling UPA party India.
The Indo-US ties gained momentum largely due to BJP’s alliance with the US on the issues of terrorism, since India itself fights terrorists infiltrating from its borders. As of now, the right-wing BJP and the center-left Congress parties both share a consensus on strengthening Indo-U.S. ties. The ruling UPA government’s agreement on the Indo-US deal has baffled the BJP and it issued varied statements which contradicted its own alliance with the US policies.
L.K.Advani, the top man in BJP had accused the Congress party of succumbing to U.S. pressure on the deal. He said that the BJP led government refused to sign the NPT while the Indo-US deal will lead to acceptance of NPT from ” the back door”. He insisted that the BJP has always wanted friendly relations with the US but on equal terms. Advani is also quoted lately as saying that his party would have no objection to the nuclear agreement ‘if the government amends the Indian Atomic Energy Act to ensure strategic independence and non-hindrance in reactor fuel supplies’. Several political experts feel that the BJP would itself have accepted the Indo-US nuclear deal in diluted terms if it were in power.
Currently, the BJP Opposition party is trying to shed its pro-hindu image and trying to resort to a cleaner and less communal “nationalist” image. The future politics in India is likely to be in the form of coalition as the trends depict. Hence the current anti-US stance by the BJP by opposing the nuclear deal and blaming Washington for consumption is only to gain an image of nationalism to get back in power.
The BJP party is likely to continue its alliance with Israel by acquiring weaponry and equipment from Israel. During the BJP led NDA regime in India, Israel became the second largest supplier of weaponry and equipment to India. It may be noted that it was due to pressure from Tel Aviv that Washington agreed to
bring in quietly the Green Pine Radar to Indian defence laboratories, which is now being used in India’s homegrown anti ballistic missile defence program. Following these events, BJP and US has forged stronger ties over the years.
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