Kissinger on India

Kissinger writes this piece in the wake of President Bush's visit to India.

Some ideas expounded here are novel, and I have never seen them expressed anywhere else. Kissinger believes that India and America differ in their perception of the world. America believes itself to be the "shining city on the hill" whose ideas are relevant to the entire world. India on the other hand, has no interest in spreading its ideas and is interested only in creating a secure bubble within which its diverse society can thrive.
Hindu society does indeed also consider itself unique but, in a manner, dramatically at variance from America’s. Democracy is not conceived as an expression of Indian culture but as a practical adaptation, the most effective means to reconcile the polyglot components of the state emerging from the colonial past....Huns, Mongols, Greeks, Persians, Afghans, Portuguese and, in the end, Britons, conquered Indian territories, established empires, and then vanished, leaving behind multitudes clinging to the impermeable Hindu culture. The Hindu religion accepts no converts; one is born into it or forever denied its stringencies and its comforts.

Kissinger is supportive of attempts to strenghten ties between the two countries, but believes that the above difference in perception of the world would lead to different responses from the two countries when they are faced with the problems of the world. One strange error is the mention of Sikkim as India's neighbouring country. Sikkim was indeed an Independent kingdom during the time Kissinger served in the Nixon administration. However, it has been a part of India since 1975.

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