M A I N   N E W S

SPECIAL REPORT-II
Will Obama walk the extra mile in India?
Ashok Tuteja
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 1
The US envoy to India, Timothy Roemer had an interesting story to narrate the other day at an interactive session in New Delhi. He was recently enjoying a holiday in Jodhpur with his family when a young man met him, warmly shook hands and told him that he was keenly looking forward to President Barack Obama’s visit to India.

Roemer wondered why he was so excited about the visit while being so far away from the national capital. “Because his (Obama) success is my dream,’’ the young man responded promptly.

Amid all the euphoria and excitement, Obama flies into India a day after the festival of Divali to win the minds and hearts of the great Indian middle class, which is in awe of the young leader beacuse of his rise to the highest post in the US, despite being a representative of the ethnic minority. Interestingly, Obama was the first President to celebrate Divali personally in the White House last year.

The US is certainly pushing India to lift its role as one of the world’s leading democracies and largest economies at a time when the region is becoming increasingly anxious about a more aggressive China.

The sense of optimism is quite palpable in the corridors of power as well but the level of expectation is perhaps not as high as was witnessed when Obama’s predecessor George Bush visited India in March 2006. What is the big-ticket item that can change the dynamism of the relationship just as the civil nuclear deal did? This is a question that everyone is asking.

The first African-American President wants to send out a clear message to New Delhi of his commitment to deepen the relationship but then the two countries can hardly afford to bury under the carpet the increasing differences between them over a plethora of issues ranging from the fight against terrorism and the US military aid to Pakistan to outsourcing and H1B visas.

India will get an opportunity to apprise Obama of its assessment of the strategic environment and engage him in an in-depth discussion on how to deal with the common threat of terrorism.

Pakistan remains an issue of discord between the two sides. With the US needing Pakistan more than ever before to meet its strategic goals in a turbulent Afghanistan, the South Block feels somewhat disappointed with the Obama administration for not exerting adequate pressure on Islamabad to deal with ‘jehadi’ elements working against India. On top of it, the US recently announced more than $2 billion aid to Pakistan. Key Obama aides have justified the aid, saying it was meant to enhance Pakistan’s capabilities to fight terror. But New Delhi is not convinced. The recent revelations that the US did not share information about David Coleman Headley prior to the 26/11 terror attacks have only sown seeds of suspicion in the counter-terrorism cooperation between the two sides.

The complex issue of Jammu and Kashmir remains on the American radar though the Obama administration has reassured the Indian leadership that the President has no intention of mediating between India and Pakistan. However, Pakistan’s attempts to internationalise the issue once again in the wake of the recent unrest in the valley have not gone unnoticed in Washington. India, therefore, can take no chances and it should be made amply clear to the US side that any reference to the ‘K’ word during Obama’s visit would only vitiate the atmosphere.

Washington has for long turned a blind eye to Pakistan misusing the aid given to it to bolster its military strength against India. When it comes to India, the US is not ready to export advanced technologies unless it signs pending security and inter-operability agreements. This is obviously an attempt to build pressure on India to take an early decision on pending defence pacts.

Even the much-touted civil nuclear deal, a gift to India from George Bush, has become a source of differences between the two nations. US companies have reacted negatively to the civil nuclear liability legislation passed by the Indian Parliament, contending that it does not exempt them from all the liability in the event of a nuclear accident. The Indian argument is that the legislation is in consonance with international treaties and provides a level-playing to everyone. Now that India has signed the Convention on Supplementary Compensation (CSC) on nuclear damages, US companies will hopefully willingly enter the billion-dollar Indian nuclear market.

Obama may face some embarrassing questions on outsourcing from his Indian interlocutors. The American President’s repeated references to the threat Bangalore poses to the US economy have certainly not added to the list of his admirers in India. Continuing US sanctions on some of the key Indian entities like ISRO, BARC and DRDO do not augur well for the strategic relationship. In the run-up to Obama’s visit, the Americans have indicated that sanctions on these organisations would be lifted.

As the Manmohan Singh Government pulls out all the stops to make Obama’s visit a truly memorable one, New Delhi expects the visiting leader to formally endorse India’s candidature for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. India’s election as a non-permanent member of the body with a huge margin is being cited as reflective of the country’s standing in the global arena. The US still maintains an ambiguous stand on India’s case. Obama may utilise his address to Members of Parliament to clarify Washington’s stand on the subject.