The UPA government is scrambling to make contact with US president-elect Barack Obama’s camp. So far, the links have been, at best, tenuous.
NEW DELHI: The UPA government is scrambling to make contact with US president-elect Barack Obama’s camp. So far, the links have been, at best, tenuous.
The November 15 G-20 meeting called by US president George Bush in Washington, to discuss the financial crisis, would have been a good time to meet. But the buzz is that neither Obama nor vice president-elect Joe Biden will attend the G-20 meeting. In fact they are unlikely to be in Washington. There is enormous pressure for one of them to be present. In case they are, Indian officials hope to ensure that Singh gets to meet whoever is there. India’s best bet would be Joe Biden, a known India friend.
“We will use our links to get an appointment, as it is important to meet the new people at the helm,” an Indian official said on condition of anonymity. Indian embassy officials in
Washington and influential Indian-Americans in the Obama camp hope to squeeze in time for Manmohan Singh.
Though Indian officials claim they have been in touch with the Obama-Biden team, it was mostly about garnering support for the civilian nuclear deal. Prime minister’s special envoy Shyam Saran held a long meeting with Obama on the nuclear deal and spoke of India’s non-proliferation record. Not much else was discussed. Issues like the war on terror, Afghanistan, Pakistan or Kashmir were certainly not discussed.
Like the PMO, the Indian embassy in Washington was till a month back totally engrossed in getting the N-deal through. There was little time for anything else. Joe Biden, a long-standing member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of course, favoured the N-deal.
After the Democrats won, Singh had, like all other world leaders, sent a congratulatory message to Obama. The president-elect called several world leaders and thanked them for their congratulatory messages. India was not in the first list of eight world leaders he called. Nor was it on the second list. Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari was. However this could also be because Singh has been out of the country, visiting Qatar and Oman.
The G-20 meeting called by George Bush will, perhaps, be one of the last meetings between him and Singh. The two had worked together to pull off the N-deal. India wants to attend the meeting to ensure that Delhi’s voice is heard in any future reorganisation of the international financial set-up.
Singh leaves for Washington on Thursday and returns by Tuesday. Accompanying him are planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, economic affairs secretary Ashok Chawla and other finance officials. Foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon too might travel with the PM.
g_seema@dnaindia.net
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