The excitement of prime minister Manmohan Singh’s first state visit to the Obama White House — a friendly and symbolic gesture on the part of president Barack Obama — has receded into the background and there is a reality check on India-US relations after Tuesday’s meeting between the two leaders and the joint statement that was issued at the end of it. It turns out that though there have not been major takeaways on Singh’s visit to Washington, the visit has reaffirmed the deepening of India-US relations, which seem to extend beyond political leanings and fancies in Washington and in New Delhi. It is true that president Obama had other things on his mind — the issue of American troops in Afghanistan was uppermost — but he was perceptive about the long-term bonds between the two democracies.
The fact that the agreement on nuclear fuel reprocessing was not signed need not be seen as a sign of indifference on the part of the new administration. It will go through sooner than later because of the business compulsions at work. Obama’s fleeting reference to India as a ‘nuclear power’ and how the two countries will have to strive together for nuclear disarmament is more than flattering. The Americans are learning to deal with the new scenario where India is the new nuclear weapon state which does not pose a threat to the existing global order.
It is evident that India’s position on the US political and strategic radar is not bigger than that of China but that need not be a worrying issue. It was unfortunate that the prime minister should have allowed himself to speak in comparative terms about India and China. He should have flatly refused to be drawn into it. The India-US relations follow an independent trajectory of their own and it is not necessary to compare it to US-China ties. A few years ago, it was Pakistan that loomed large in discussions of relations with the US. This betrays a sense of insecurity in the Indian establishment which is both strange and illogical.
Singh seems to believe, and many would disagree, that India needs US investments and technical know-how to power its economic growth. The US will certainly be a major partner in India’s economic growth for quite some time to come but its importance is likely to decline because of the post-economic crisis contours of the global economy. India will have other major trade partners in Asia and elsewhere. All this requires a sober assessment of India-US equations.
Comments