Category Archives: Science/Tech
VIDEO: Why did General Motors (GM) Fail in India?
Mahanth S. Joishy is Editor of usindiamonitor
When GM decided to enter the India market, which represents gigantic opportunity for the American automaker, I observed their moves with interest. With a huge and young population, every American company must have an India strategy and I applaud that they came by.
But India was always going to be a long shot for GM in my opinion, especially in the endeavors of stealing away any market share from Indian automakers and Indo-Japanese joint ventures, which have been highly successful there for decades.
Too bad GM didn’t hire me to advise them- especially when it came to the challenges of servicing in India. In the years since introducing Chevys and other offerings, the company has predictably fallen flat on its face in India, causing loss of profits and a loss of reputation. This CNBC video below helps lay it all out quite well:
MILITARY PARADE? NO. WE NEED A US CYBER FORCE.
We spend upwards of $600 billion annually on our military, and yet we do a subpar job in protecting our business and political interests from the Chinese, Russians, and others robbing us blind, hacking our elections, stealing the plans from weapons systems and federal government personnel files, etc.
The problem is structural. No entity is accountable for our cyber arena threat matrix- both offensive and defensive capabilities. There’s the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Pentagon, Homeland Security, CIA, FBI, NSA, and the list goes on.
Whose fault was RussiaGate? Whose job is it to respond? WE ARE AT WAR. We should be going on the offensive. And the future isn’t tanks, and jets, and carriers, and missiles. We already dominate those categories, and we are still left unprotected and vulnerable. We can’t even run a clean election or a free and truthful press, those most basic tenets of democracy.
The United States must create, ASAP, a new military branch on par with the Army, Navy, and Air Force called the United States Cyber Force. It’s not just land, air, and sea anymore. It must have cutting-edge technical and personnel resources to show overwhelming AND disproportionate force if any nation or terrorist group or criminal organization ever decides to attack America’s cyber infrastructure.
I’m writing a novel about this. But this is more important than that. It’s about patriotism, and it’s not partisan at all. We need to make it reality. Today. The clock is ticking, and no less than our democracy is at stake.
Mahanth S. Joishy is Editor of usindiamonitor
Water Dancing: Part 2, US-India Naval Cooperation in 2016
US Defense Secretary Ash Carter boards the INS Vikramaditya with Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar today off India’s West coast. photo from prokerala.com
This is Part 2 of a special 3-part series on US-India Naval cooperation being published by usindiamonitor, timed in coordination with US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s critical voyage to India on April 10th, 2016. Part 1 focused on the background and history. Part 2 will cover the expected outcomes from Ash Carter’s 3-day trip to India in the context of 2016 current events. Part 3 will project what the future may hold for the two Navies.
They say that time heals all wounds. This cannot be more aptly applied than to US diplomatic relationships in Asia. In the last installment, we discussed how President Nixon sent Task Force 74 to the Bay of Bengal as a menacing warning for India just 45 years ago. For much of the early 20th century, America was brutally fighting an insurgency in the Philippines, while trying (and failing) to hold on to its overseas colony. In the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s the United States was at all-out war, first in Korea and then in Vietnam, some of the hottest patches of the Cold War resulting in hundreds of thousands of casualties. Most dramatic of all, in 1945 President Truman ordered the only nuclear bomb attacks in history on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan.
In the 20th century America spent a fair amount of time embattled with Asian countries. Yet today, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and the Philippines are American allies. India and the United States are meanwhile on the path toward developing a closer strategic relationship as well. We are predicting that US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter’s 3-day trip to India this week will help smooth that path- which will still be a challenging one. This makes the trip that much more critical. On the eve of his second visit to India in less than a year, Carter said of the US-India defense relationship: “Over the course of my years at the Defense Department, I have seen a remarkable convergence of US and Indian interests – what I call a strategic handshake.” The term strategic handshake has only been used by him in this context.
USS Blue Ridge is docked at Goa today. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jordan KirkJohnson/ RELEASED)
Naval matters will rank high on the agenda. Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar is hosting Carter at a naval base in his home state of Goa, while giving the US delegation a tour of India’s only functional aircraft carrier, the INS Vikramaditya. The US Navy 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge made a port of call to Goa after a stop in Mumbai, and will be on hand for Carter’s visit to Goa. In the meantime, US sailors and marines will be participating in community service and taking on local college students in some friendly athletic competition, including a few cracks at the bat… the cricket bat.
There are substantive negotiations going on during this trip. The Indian Navy is interested in buying 40 unarmed Predator drones for surveillance over the Indian Ocean. If a deal were to go through soon these unmanned spy aircraft, made by the US company General Atomics, would be the first Predators ever to be operated by the Indian armed forces. The US government and Indian government would first need to agree to this deal before General Atomics could fulfill the order. Considering that the Predator is one of the sharpest tools in the US military arsenal, such a purchase would be a very big deal. It could also open the door in the future for Predators that go beyond surveillance and reconnaissance, but are also armed with precision missiles.
Predator Drone. Illustration from General Atomics
Carter has also said in Goa that the United States backs India’s naval expansion “as a net supplier of security in the region,” an oft-repeated phrase that has been analyzed in different ways for many months. Taken literally, it would seem to mean that India is being encouraged to increase its naval capacity to be able to supply the vast Indian ocean with greater force projection capability than it needs for itself. A number of other announcements expected this week include the sharing of aircraft carrier technology, but are contingent on the desired American roadmap for the future of the Indian Navy.
One can expect another important discussion item would be joint US-India naval patrols, which has never happened before. In the weeks leading up to Ash Carter’s trip to India, Pacific Command Admiral Harry Harris, Jr. voiced welcoming intimations to India about such a development, especially freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea along with Japan and Australia, during a speech in New Delhi. However, India has never conducted joint patrols with any country, as part of a larger structural foreign policy of non-alignment. Defense Minister Parrikar and others promptly denied that India would conduct any such patrols. The Obama White House and Pacific Command have had to say there is no “gag order” in response to rumblings that naval officers are off-message on China Sea related issues.
We covered in the last installment how Exercise Malabar has become a successful partnership, but patrols are an unlikely step at this time. India is no doubt worried about a Chinese response, especially in the three bodies of water, the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and Bay of Bengal, where India and China are already pushing to establish the naval upper hand.
China has for some years engaged in a strategic encirclement of India by close cooperation with Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Burma. The Chinese Navy recently docked its ships and submarines in Colombo’s port in a “friendly visit” that was not well-received by India in its own backyard. China has also extensively supplied Burma’s military, and uses Burmese ports frequently. Finally, the Chinese government helped build Pakistan’s Gwadar port, with the expectation of free passage for China’s Navy and commerce, while Pakistan conducts joint naval exercises with its closest ally.
Pakistan’s Gwadar Port, under China’s control. via nihao-salam.com
China’s encirclement of India cannot be completely dissociated from the perceived US encirclement of China. Joint US-India naval patrols in one of the China Seas could trigger joint China-Sri Lanka-Pakistan-Burma patrols, or some combination thereof, in the waters around India. Meanwhile, India still has to watch its vulnerable flank on the long, disputed, and treacherous shared borders with Pakistan and China. Indian leaders consider themselves to be truly alone on these borders, and their actions on the seas could backfire along both land and sea. Not to mention, both Pakistan and China have nuclear weapons pointing toward India’s major cities.
India is keen to not draw too much attention from China when it comes to US-India naval cooperation, while not rejecting America’s extended hand in cooperation on the seas altogether. It is a difficult and delicate water dance indeed. So far, India seems to be threading the needle by occasionally sending ships into the South China Sea, but not on joint patrol; aiming to procure Predator drones to spy on the oceans around India, but unarmed drones to start; participating in increasingly complex US-India joint exercises, but not joint patrols; training with US counterparts, but not fighting next to them against, for example, the common enemy of ISIS.
The United States appears willing to do more with India, when India is ready, not only on naval cooperation but also with other military branches. Ash Carter is spending a precious 3 days in India even while his Defense Department is at war in the Middle East, because without increased Indian cooperation, there can’t really be a successful American “pivot to Asia.” We are in the waning days of the Obama administration- and the highly restrained “Obama Doctrine” in US foreign policy. Who knows what sort of US administration comes next?
It’s time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar, and their teams to decide if India wants to fully engage the world’s only superpower, leaving non-alignment behind on terms that are favorable to both sides, and engage in the risky climb towards superpower status. The risk comes from having to manage its own encirclement on the water, by land, and in the air.
Time heals all wounds, and India believes it has suffered many in its relationship with the United States over the years. But we are in the year 2016. The tea leaves seem exceedingly clear. China has its grand global ambitions and is going to act very predictably the same regardless of how diplomatically or non-confrontational India behaves.
Mahanth S. Joishy is Editor of usindiamonitor
This Week in US-India Relations: Sunday Masala 8/10/14
This week usindiamonitor is excited to launch a brand new feature called “Sunday Masala,” a weekly digest of the most important developments taking place now in the US-India bilateral relationship. Besides quick and unbiased analysis of each issue, Sunday Masala will also present a section called “Trend Spotting” if warranted, to inform readers of critical short or long term trajectories to watch out for in this sphere. Those of you from the Indian side already know how a masala, or melange of spices, makes South Asian food so special. We hope the spice on this page has a kick, too.
Sunday Masala is a unique resource, and the only one you will need to stay well-informed of the fast moving, always interesting action in US-India relations week by week. Coupled with vast original content on our website and daily news updates on our Twitter feed, today we also welcome you to the very first installment of Sunday Masala.
1) DEFENSE COOPERATION- REAL DEAL? U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was in India over the weekend to visit Defense/Finance Combo Minister Arun Jaitley, and a juicy tidbit squeezed through the usual chatter about increasing low-level joint military exercises or selling U.S. weaponry to India: Hagel publicly proposed joint weapons development with India, a step that has surprisingly never been implemented before.
The U.S. defense sector is still light years ahead of all others, and India’s industry has a long ways to go, like its military at large. A proposal appears to be on the table to co-produce and co-develop weapons systems such as the Javelin anti-tank missile, a weapon that has been in a multi-year heated battle with Israel’s Spike missile for the Indian Army’s affections. Also on the radar for join development is a “big data” cybersecurity system to go after terrorists, amongst other things.
What will the two governments do? Mutual suspicions have led to them never cooperating on badly needed military ventures. Will the U.S. and India make an unprecedented military deal that may finally create the beginnings of a real security alliance?
2) FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT (FDI) The above came fast on the heels of India’s cabinet vote last week to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) in the defense sector to rise to 49% from its current 26%. This would be major news for U.S. companies and would make joint ventures far easier to set up. Meanwhile, a proposal to do the same in India’s insurance industry seems to be lagging largely due to the machinations of India’s Congress party.
India’s insurance industry is even more untapped than its defense industry. Indians just don’t buy much of any type of insurance, even for homes, autos, businesses, or life. 95% of the population does not have any insurance as per the Hindustan Times newspaper, much of that due to cultural norms. Most can now afford some insurance and would benefit- as would the industry and the country. We shall see.
*** TRENDSPOTTING: The United States recently overtook Israel as India’s #2 weapons supplier. Russia still remains #1. On a related note, Russia also has a far more robust military partnership with India than the United States does, including joint development of weapons. An announcement on the Javelin or a package including the Javelin would set in motion two trends: the United States solidifying its #2 position, and potential for Russia’s pole position to be in jeopardy in the years to come. Modi’s swearing in as Prime Minister as these trends gain traction is only part coincidence.
But first, one thing at a time.
Mahanth S. Joishy is editor of usindiamonitor
Interview with Back to the Roots Co-founder Nikhil Arora
Usindiamonitor.com is pleased to bring you an interview with young Indian-American entrepreneur Nikhil Arora, who co-founded the company Back to the Roots with partner Alejandro Velez while they were still undergrads at UC Berkeley in 2009. Back to the Roots is all about mushrooms: growing them, selling them to major grocery chains including Whole Foods, and even selling boxed starter kits so that individual customers can grow their own delicious mushrooms at home for personal consumption. More uniquely, the business grows all of the mushrooms in used coffee grounds, resulting in a major diversion and re-use of spent organic waste that has saved nearly 4 million pounds of grounds from the waste stream. In effect, the company functions simultaneously as a grower, distributor, and recycler.
We thought it was very cool to find UC Berkeley students starting a new green agricultural business in Oakland instead of joining the ranks of drones at software companies, financial engineering firms, or consultancies which are more ubiquitous throughout the Bay. Like their mushroom starter kits, Back to the Roots is growing and is now hiring for multiple positions. We also wanted to get a sense of how this startup took a simple idea from a Berkeley science lecture and turned it into a national- and perhaps one day multinational- company. Fortunately Nikhil was able to share his thoughts with us this week. (And Nik, I got something for you on the green roof idea.)
