India wonders where it stands
INDIA and China seem to be natural allies, both are large, multi-ethnic and religiously diverse nations that embraced democracy after colonial rule. India and the US grew closer than any other time in their history during Bush's presidency, spurred by the nuclear deal between the two countries.
Although the first state dinner on November 24 was hosted by President Obama for India's Prime Minister Dr. Monmohan Singh, the impact of President Obama's trip in mid-November to China has cast a long shadow on the Indian prime minister's visit to Washington. In India, hopes for a new chapter in Indo-US relations with the visit have been dampened.
Before leaving for the US, the prime minister said that India was looking forward to building on the strategic dialogue with the US and seeking greater cooperation in areas such as trade, investment, services, energy, science, technology and defence.
In 1991, Dr. Singh, while presenting a budget to India's Parliament as finance minister, quoted Victor Hugo: "No power on earth can stop an idea whose time has come," and then he went on to say "I suggest to this august House that the emergence of India as a major economic power in the world happens to be one such idea."
India realises that without American cooperation and technology, it cannot progress economically and become an economic power in Asia. Nuclear energy is essential for India and the nuclear deal provides it.
On the security side, India reckons that it is America that can exert pressure on potential "enemies" that are likely to destabilise the country from within and from outside. Terrorism highlights a convergence of interests in confronting the same menace. To the US administration, India is a member of the G20 and a central international actor on a full range of issues. Furthermore, India's size, population, skills, resources and potential can make a major contribution as a "global partner" with the US, whose goal is to fashion a comprehensive strategic partnership on wide-ranging consultation and cooperation on many of the most important bilateral, regional and global issues of the day.
The prime minister reportedly said that his talks with the president were productive, relating to security, peace and counter-terrorism in South Asia. He must be pleased to note that the president told a joint news conference on November 24 that the US would not mediate in the Indo-Pakistan conflict.
However, critics say that Dr. Singh failed in the main objective of his visit -- to ''operationalise'' the nuclear deal concluded in the Bush era. While Obama pledged to ''fully implement'' the agreement, potentially crucial details of nuclear technology transfers to India have not been finalised.
President Obama's "deferential" statements during his visit to China have raised the question of where India stands in relationship with the US. Indian media reports say that the president had gone out of the way to present a kinder and gentler image of America, reassuring China that America did not seek to contain the rising economic giant.
His tone of speech in China created an impression in India that the US worries more about offending China than standing up for the values it shares with India. Obama's unwillingness to meet the Dalai Lama was also perceived as evidence that he was reluctant to offend China.
What created a political furore in India was that the joint statement after the China visit stated that the two countries would "work together to promote peace, stability and development" in South Asia. This statement has been widely interpreted as an invitation to China to meddle in India's backyard and prompted howls of dismay across the political spectrum in India. There are suspicions in India that the recent warmth in relations between Washington and Beijing may compromise its own aspirations as a global power.
However, on November 23, India's prime minister, at an interaction with the Council of Foreign Relations in Washington, dismissed the concern by saying: "What happens between President Obama and President Hu is not our direct concern. We want the world to prepare for the peaceful rise of China as a major power. So engagement is the right strategy, both for India as well as the United States. We, ourselves, have tried very hard to engage China in the last five years. Today, China is one of our major trading partners."
Brahma Chellaney, a professor of strategic studies at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi summed up the visit: ''In a nutshell, Singh got a nice state ceremony, China got respect as an equal and Pakistan has got billions of dollars of additional US aid. India will have to be satisfied with the sumptuous dinner.''
A flurry of editorials about Singh's visit to Washington in China's state-run media suggest that it has been closely scrutinised in Beijing. An article on the front page of China's influential Global Times had the headline: ''India can't disguise its envy towards China.''
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