Round The Word

New Delhi, 16 June 2009

Obama & India

BAD DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!

By Prof. Chintamani Mahapatra

Ever since the new US President, Barrack Hussein Obama, occupied the White House, improving relations with India appears to have faded from Washington’s foreign policy radar screen.

The US Administration is yet to send an Ambassador to New Delhi. Unsought advice on how to resolve the Kashmir issue is almost routinely given to India these days. President Obama and his foreign policy team have been airing the need for India to sign the NPT, CTBT and the future FMCT.

Also, there was an attempt to bracket India along with Afghanistan and Pakistan in a new strategy to combat the Al Qaeda and Taliban extremists. But there is hardly any mention about Mumbai’s 26/11 by the Obama Administration, let alone extending any concrete help to bring justice.

By bestowing praises on the Pakistani Government for its cooperation in fighting terrorism, the Obama Administration reminds one of similar praises bestowed on former President Pervez Musharraf earlier. Importantly, terror strikes in India no longer draw strong condemnation from Washington.

The Obama Administration also was prompt in announcing a new policy that would penalize American companies outsourcing jobs to India. Subsequently, the US President warned American kids to beware of Indian and Chinese students performing better than them.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to China and Indonesia but did not think it proper to include India in her itinerary. Before her Asian trip, the Vice President-elect Joe Biden too visited Islamabad but did not think it appropriate to stop-over at New Delhi.

Yet again, Barrack Obama visited Cairo and gave a long address to the people of the Islamic World. He spoke almost everything positive about Islam except the fact that India has a huge Muslim population that participates in an untainted democratic process for decades, thus setting a good example to other parts of the Islamic World.

All these developments remind one of the early days of the last Democratic Presidency under the leadership of Bill Clinton. President Clinton made the new Indian Ambassador to Washington wait for months before he could present his credential. The Assistant Secretary of State went to the extent of challenging the legal validity of the Instrument of Accession that made Jammu and Kashmir a part of India.

India was put on the hit list of Super 301 and Special 301 provisions of the US Omnibus Trade Act. The non-proliferation Ayatoallahs’ of Clinton’s Administration also made considerable noises about the need for India to sign the NPT.

At the moment it looks like bad old days are back again. Of course, there are differences between the early Clinton era and the early Obama era. India was no great friend of the United States. New Delhi had lost her strategic partner --- Soviet Union --- that had disintegrated about a couple of years before Clinton’s entry into the Oval Office. Thus, Clinton’s approach towards India during his Administration’s early years was logical, rational and understandable.

On the contrary, President Obama’s approach towards India is quite incomprehensible.  By the time he made history by winning the 2008 US Presidential election, Indo-US relations had improved beyond one’s imagination. The two estranged democracies had transited from being two engaged democracies to two significant strategic partners.

The military-to-military cooperation between India and the US had matured. The US-India civilian nuclear deal that passed through several domestic hurdles in both countries to finally culminate in a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement had the support and approval of Senator Obama and Senator Clinton. But President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton appear to have forgotten about its importance to an extent that they have failed to give it a push for its timely implementation.

Understandably, the Obama Administration is overly busy with the economic crisis, planned troops withdrawal from Iraq, implementation of a new strategy towards Afghanistan and Pakistan and the need for altering America’s image in the Islamic World.

However, there is no gainsaying that the excessive attention towards crisis situation and failure to nurture new relationships and strategic partnerships can be truly counter-productive in the long run. What President George Bush earned during 8 years of his Administration could be lost in just a couple of years due to the negligence by the Obama Administration.

President Obama needs to revisit the Clinton Presidency years a little more seriously to learn why President Clinton decided to visit India at the fag end of his Administration to chart out a new course of his country’s policy towards India.

President George Bush smartly capitalized on Clinton’s new initiative towards India and gave an unprecedented momentum to improve cooperation with New Delhi in a wide array of areas. But President Obama is likely to turn the clock back, unless he takes some innovative steps to build on the structure from where President Bush left.

Any further delay in taking active interest to strengthen the new strategic partnership with India will cost President Obama and his country dearly, notwithstanding that India would also be a loser to a certain extent.

The Obama Administration should do the following: One, he should not allow his India policy to be dictated by Islamabad. Two, he should take a few quick measures to reiterate the significance of US-India relations for regional stability and global good. Three, he should lose no time in re-emphasizing the importance of the Indo-US civilian nuclear cooperation and provide leadership for its prompt implementation.

The mistake of the Obama Administration is quite clear. His non-proliferation statements and initiatives threaten to bring the nuclear irritant in Indo-US ties. Which was so painstakingly removed by his predecessor President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Significantly, the Obama Administration has tied its hands behind its back despite US intelligence reports confirming steady expansion of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. Its dialogue diplomacy has neither convinced Iran to abandon its nuclear path nor encouraged North Korea to close down its nuclear weapons facilities. Syria is the new emerging proliferation concern. While China has been taking the US for a ride by clandestinely supporting Pakistan, Iran and North Korea.

Against the backdrop of all these developments, the Obama Non-proliferation team appears to have turned a blind eye to the non-proliferation gains from the Indo-US nuclear cooperation agreement. They appear to be training their guns against India, as indicated by their statements on CTBT, NPT and FMCT.

In the ultimate, by neglecting the achievements in US-Indian relations and its repeated rhetoric on nuclear issues could derail the current state of US-Indian ties. Wherein, the liberal Obama Administration then might stand accused of having commonalities with India's Communists on issues relating to Indo-US relations. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)