Round The World

New Delhi, 28 September 2010

Preparing For Obama’s Visit

IRONING OUT INDO- US IRRITANTS

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

Of late, inter-actions at different levels have been the norm in India-US relationship.  They might not bring miraculous surprises but they are nevertheless important steps towards the upcoming high-profile visit of President Barack Obama. These meetings are intended as spadework for the major job in hand, to get the most out of the visit which has been awaited by both the Administrations.

Importantly, Indo-US relations have steadily acquired prominence in almost all fields, reaping on common values and interests between the two countries. The end of the Cold War and liberalization of the Indian economy have removed various political and economic constraints. The strides that the two countries have made in the field of civilian nuclear energy and defence have opened up new vistas in the ties creating bonds of inter-linkages that have sharpened common goals and broadened the area of maneuverability.

The Defence Minister Antony’s visit to the US and the meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his counterpart Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were intended to inspect the various nuts and bolts of the relationship before the big event. The idea is not to be caught unaware regarding any aspect. Like any multi-pronged relationship in international politics, New Delhi and Washington are bound to have differences of opinion and strategy over various issues.

Keeping in mind that both the countries are thriving democracies with political structures that are not monolithic in nature, negotiations and differences are well expected. But again, the strength of democracies is the belief that nothing much untoward will happen and a good round of diplomacy can effectively iron out the differences and help move forward.

During the recent Krishna-Clinton meeting, both  sides expressed the belief that the so called ‘irritants’ like US export control, visa fee hike and the Indian nuclear Liability Bill would be resolved soon. Talking to reporters after the 30 minute meeting, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake did not go into details as to how the two Administrations intended to iron out the differences but expressed confidence of a positive outcome.

He said that the issue of India’s candidature for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council did not come in the Clinton-Krishna talk but assured that discussions were being held on the issue as part of the preparations for the Presidential visit to India. Both the countries agree that multi-lateral global institutions should reflect contemporary realities but it needs to be seen how far Washington is willing to go to share power and accommodate rising powers such as India into the elite club.

It is not hard to discern that New Delhi is not going to get an easy free pass into the veto-welding club and gate-crashing is not an option. But, if India, with assistance from the Bush Administration could weather through the equally grueling process of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)-waiver, then its aspirations for a permanent seat at the UNSC is not a mission impossible either. If President Obama could come with some concrete support for India’s UN aspirations, then he would have written a new chapter in India-US relations.

As the recent row over the increase of H1B AND L1 visa fees created some concerns, both the sides showed confidence that the ties between the two countries was too big and too important to be jeopardized by such componential elements. They sought to concentrate on the entire dynamics and energy in bilateral ties relations and believed that the two countries will easily ride over differences. According to India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, “The sum of the relationship is greater than its parts and what we have is growing strategic dialogue and growing partnership between the two countries”.

Apart from Foreign Minister Krishna who is in New York primarily as representative at the annual UN General Assembly meeting, Defence Minister Antony also visited the US with a high-level military delegation on the invitation of the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates to take stock of increasing India-US defence ties and prepare grounds before Obama’s visit. Meeting with Secretary Gates, Antony conveyed New Delhi’s concerns regarding that the Pakistani army is not in a mood to abandon its anti-India fixation and as such, there needs to be a well-accounted audit of how the American supplied weapons are being used.

He also expressed concerns over the "delay and denial" of export licenses to Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) laboratories, as also the continued presence of Indian scientific R&D agencies in the US Entity List under which these are banned for export of American technologies and know-how. Given the increasing defence relationship, these concerns are genuine. Any hesitation shown towards dealing with primary Indian defence research organizations would seem an anomaly if India and the US are serious about taking defence ties from a buyer-seller relationship to partnership in R&D, transfer of technology and co-production.

Minsiter Antony also called on Secretary Clinton and National Security Advisor Gen James Jones to discuss regional and global issues. Regarding agreements such as the logistics support, communication interoperability and geo-spatial cooperation, Antony said he appreciated the American view that these would facilitate access to high technologies, but there were a number of agencies involved and the deals needed to be considered in a multi-dimensional perspective.

The larger and long-term picture of India-US ties is more enticing than ever in the history of the relationship and the good work that the Bush Administration had done as far as this association is concerned will likely be carried on by the present Administration. At a time when Obama’s foreign policy card has nothing much to show in terms of successes, India-US relations seems to be one of  the rosiest picture that the US President has to show and he is certain to build on the good road that this relationship has managed to pave over the years.

One of the highest positive points for India-US ties is the amount of people-to-people contact between the countries, signifying the relationship has well gone far ahead of just inter-Governmental ties. Undoubtedly, these factors serve as major shock absorbers in any relationship. The upcoming visit is certainly being looked forward to, for the kind of real deliverables that Obama will bring along. At various occasions and many venues, he has managed to put India at a high pedestal in the hierarchy of nation States, much exemplified by the gala reception that the Indian Prime Minister got in Washington as a State guest.

But, decisions and policy projections especially in the field of outsourcing and non-proliferation have often put him at odds with Indian interests and viewpoints. But at the same time, the larger vision of India-US relations has managed to override these issues which are a product of differences of strategy and domestic political constraints. Unmistakably the upcoming visit is being looked forward to clear many of the issues that somehow could become ‘irritants’ in the increasing scale of engagement that the two countries enjoy. ---- INFA

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