In this short span of time Obama and his team have made four categorical ‘mistakes’ vis-a-vis India. He started off pretty early right in his campaign itself when he spoke against outsourcing to India. That all his policies have failed on this score is another matter altogether. Secondly, he sanctioned aid to Pakistan without too many strings attached even as they continue to support terrorists who have killed thousands in India. Thirdly, his administration deliberately leaked comments of Gen McChrystal’s report wherein he says that Indian influence in Afghanistan needs to be curbed, clearly giving a hint to Indians to take it easy in Afghanistan while offering support for development of infrastructure in that country and fourthly, Obama has indirectly asked China to monitor Indo-Pak relations which India has vehemently opposed.

Otherwise also if you see, Obama has been cold shouldering India and its importance ever since he assumed office. He perceives the situation in South Asia as being Pak centric whereas if there is any one bright  stabilizing spot in this entire region its India. It is India with a flourishing economy and a democracy to boot  which should’ve been the focal point around which Obama could rally. Remember, India had offered unconditional support to America in this war on terror, though during Bush’s years. But for reasons best known to him he has chosen to put most of his eggs in one basket- Pakistan. Agreed that Pakistan has a very important role to play in this affair but sidelining India will only worsen things for America, if you ask me. Also, the relationship of America with Pakistan does not need to be at the cost of India, which currently seems to be the situation.

Actually, you can’t really blame him much. He’s still learning, though unfortunately, on the job and at the expense of American taxpayers. In his scheme of things he has come to the conclusion that  relations with China, Pakistan and Russia are the most important for US in the not so distant future. And therefore he has gone over board trying to please them even as none of them have given anything back in return so far. His recent visit to China was more or less a failure to the extent that he was not even allowed to interact freely with neither the students nor the press. So much so that he even accepted the situation wherein media was not allowed to ask him questions. Are we really talking about the mighty president of United States of America here? Its quite difficult for me to comprehend this situation.

If you go by a poll conducted in Pakistan, despite the kind of ‘investment’ Obama has done in Pakistan, America is still perceived as the number one enemy in that country. Let me tell you for a fact that this will not change for at least the next few generations. If that be the case is there any assurance that the govt in Pakistan will keep overlooking the general public opinion? Remember, how the strong public opinion forced even a president like Musharraf to quit? Actually Obama can thank the fundamentalist parties in Pakistan who have not yet whipped up this very strong emotion prevalent amongst the populace of that country. But things can change very fast in case they actually do.

This is exactly the reason why I very seriously feel that he has ‘invested’ a lot of time and money in Pakistan while at the same time ignoring India. The current visit by Manmohan Singh may just be intended to placate the fear of Indians but given the history of this administration  I’m not exactly hopeful for a revolutionary change in their policies. He has not exactly been our friend in the past and that’s not really going to change overnight, visit or no visit. If he still considers India to be their natural ally or strategic partners or some such stuff he can start by placing an FBI cell here in India which can not only assist us technologically but also act as our link between mainland US and Europe where quite a lot of planning and funding is done from, as we have seen in the recent Headley-Rana case. Just to point out that our team of investigators which went to US recently were not even allowed to meet these two accused while we on our part accommodated them when we let FBI interrogate Ajmal Kasab here in India. Talk about being natural allies and strategic partners and what have you. Nonetheless, in case this cell is indeed established it will not only be a big boost to our fight against terror but will also go a long way in monitoring the situation in Pakistan. In the long run this cell can emerge as the counter terrorism hub in this part of the world.

Though during this visit there will be a lot of bonhomie and public display of appreciation of our country and our virtues but the under current flowing in the opposite direction is too strong to be overlooked. Obama needs to actually sit down and visualise the direction where this relationship is headed because otherwise he will continue to be seen as not being our friend, irrespective of the fact whether he carries a small Hanuman idol wherever he goes or not. Its not just Hanuman but humans in his team who can make him ’see’ where this relationship goes from here.

Related Post

Pardon 26/11 murderers?

Take a BOW!!!!

Sign of America's failure

Kashmir is not that important

 If you like this post subscribe to my RSS feed. See how?

Register for Newsletter | Email this post | Download this post

Posted on November 23rd, 2009 India calling, Track the world • Tags: India, obama, Pakistan, PM, Terror, US, visit, war. • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback