But South Asia is not the same as it was 20 years ago, when Pakistan was a military dictatorship and India was governed by the cosmopolitan liberals of the Congress Party. Back then, a realignment toward India and against the Sino-Pakistani alliance seemed like a straightforwardly pro-democracy idea. Today’s Pakistan is more democratic than it was under Pervez Musharraf’s rule, while India has become less so under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Yet the geopolitical logic of the realignment — India is a valuable ally against China — remains in place. Any honest argument in favor of it should acknowledge that it does not really hinge on democracy at all.

:yea: so much democracy going on here amirite. U.S partly helped BJP get in power because liberals weren't friendly enough to foreign capitalists (there are many other reasons though).

Even more provocatively, remember that the U.S. allied with Pakistan in the first place because India was allied with the Soviet Union against its neighbor and rival China.

Pakistan at the time helped provide brave Mujahideen fighters of Afghanistan with weapons. So much democracy. :picard-excited: