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| India-Pakistan |
| India is annoyed by Obama |
| 2010-04-05 |
| By Sumit Ganguly Barack Obama is in danger of reversing all the progress his predecessors, including George W. Bush, made in forging closer U.S. ties with India. Preoccupied with China and the Middle East, the Obama administration has allotted little room on its schedule for India, and failed to get much done in the short time it did make. Hosting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the November state visit, the administration managed to produce cordial photo ops, but the agreements reached on education, energy cooperation, and the like dealt with trivia. Indian diplomats close to Singh say the lackluster results show how far the relationship has fallen since Bill Clinton and the two Bushes transformed a strained Cold War rivalry into a close strategic partnership between the world's largest democracies. Obama's predecessors built a relationship around trade negotiations, joint military exercises, and ad hoc coalitions for humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the Indonesia tsunami. Despite his reputation for uniquely pushy diplomacy, it was George W. Bush who concluded the landmark deal that recognized India as a legitimate nuclear power and opened the door to the sale of civilian nuclear technology to India. No single American move has done more to demonstrate Washington's respect for New Delhi as a rising and equal power. Now Obama, who came to office promising to respect U.S. allies, is backpedaling on that deal, to the growing chagrin of the Indians. Obama appears largely oblivious to India's concerns. When the U.S. gathered its allies in the Afghan war at a London summit in January, Indian officials felt they were marginalized because their views were not sought or paid heed to in any fashion. They were even more annoyed by U.S. declarations of a "new dawn" in relations with India's old adversary, Pakistan, and the apparent trust American officials now place in Pakistan's willingness to fight the Taliban, both at home and in Afghanistan. Their feeling is that top Obama advisers, like national-security adviser James Jones and the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, have little experience in South Asia and have displayed remarkable naiveté in public statements. More than once, Jones has argued that reducing Indo-Pakistani tensions would allow Pakistan to redeploy forces from its Indian border to the fight against the Taliban along the Afghan border. This is utterly fatuous in the view of Indian officials, who believe Pakistan is still dallying with the terrorists who target Indian interests in Kashmir and who orchestrated the devastating 2008 attacks on Mumbai. Despite all this, India has renewed talks with Pakistan and moved military personnel away from the de facto border in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir; Pakistan has yet to reciprocate. As a result, some officials in New Delhi are livid about Jones's remarks. Holbrooke triggered a similar reaction in early March: after Afghan Taliban killed a number of Indian workers in Kabul, he blithely stated that the victims were not targeted on the basis of their nationality. Indian officials publicly dismissed Holbrooke's remarks as uninformed. Behind the scenes, they see his comments as part of a larger pattern of Obama administration insensitivity toward India. India won't wait indefinitely for the White House to put the relationship back on track. Instead, it is cutting deals with nations that respect its significance. Russia, which had let old Soviet ties to India wither, is now dramatically renewing the connection. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently visited India and went home with multiple agreements, including deals on civilian nuclear energy and more than $1.5 billion worth of advanced naval aircraft. Obama's inattention is what makes Russia's advance possible. It's hard to understand why Washington would continue to neglect such a valuable ally. India is a vast and growing market, a significant military player in South Asia, a growing force in global talks on climate change and nuclear nonproliferation. So instead of ignoring or publicly upbraiding India, Washington needs to find a way to avoid the acutely sensitive issue of Kashmir, while enhancing counterterrorism cooperation and actively seeking India's input into the larger discussion on Afghanistan. Doing so will help secure Washington's relationship with a nation that is too important to keep on the sidelines. Ganguly, a professor of political science at Indiana University, Bloomington, is currently the Ngee Ann Kongsi chair in international relations at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #13 Apparently Barry didn't catch the irony in (the original) JFK's line after he took responsibility for the Bay of Pigs: "Success has a thousand fathers; failure is an orphan." This clown has botched nearly everything he's touched: the bank non-reform giveaway, the stimulus fiasco, the healthcare botchjob, Isr-Pal, missiles in Europe, Iran.... |
| Posted by: lex 2010-04-05 18:16 |
| #12 But, but, but I distinctly remember Barry said he was going to restore our position of respect in the world after the last administration which he inherited. And I remember he said he was going to get Malia and Sasha a dog from the pound (you know to try to relate to us commoners). The "inherited Bush administration" is getting as boring and in bad taste as the line John F. Kerry always mentioned where he said every chance he got to mention he served in Viet Nam. Getting a little worn and old. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-05 17:53 |
| #11 Britain, Honduras, Poland, Czech Republic, Israel, Canada: it's a large club, and growing rapidly. You can add a lot of the US states outside Bicoastia to that list. As Barbara said, get in line. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-04-05 16:49 |
| #10 India is annoyed by Bambi? Get in line. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2010-04-05 13:32 |
| #9 They're just not Barry's sort of little oppressed brown people. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-04-05 13:02 |
| #8 Barack Obama is in danger of reversing all the progress his predecessors, including George W. Bush, made in forging closer U.S. ties with India. I thought that was a feature, not a bug. |
| Posted by: Frozen Al 2010-04-05 12:06 |
| #7 He identifies more with Pakistan, To him, Pakistan is the country of pheasant hunting and pretty sisters, with the beautiful sound of the muezzin echoing throughout the land... and not a single colonial oppressor to be seen from sunrise to sunset and back again. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-04-05 11:41 |
| #6 ION "TESTING THE BAMMER", TOPIX > BAKU:SENIOR OFFCIAL SAYS AZERBAIJAN MAY RESORT TO WAR IFF KARABAKH DIPLOMACY COLLAPSES/FAILS, + AZERBAIJAN HAS THE RIGHT TO LIBERATE ITS TERRITORY BY ANY MEANS [includ War], + AZERBAIJAN FIRES OF NKH DEFENSE ARMY POSITIONS. * SAME > WHY IS THERE NO CHECHEN GENOCIDE BILLS BEING CONSIDERED OR DEBATED BY THE US CONGRESS? US Congresscritters enggae in intsnsive Recognition Debate as per Armenian Christian genocide, but NOT Chechen Muslim genocide [which ocurred thrice at hands of TSARIST RUSSIA + former USSR + now RUSSIA again]??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-04-05 02:13 |
| #5 Now Obama, who came to office promising to respect U.S. allies, is backpedaling on that deal, to the growing chagrin of the Indians. Join the club, Desis. Britain, Honduras, Poland, Czech Republic, Israel, Canada: it's a large club, and growing rapidly. Also a prestigious club, to our nation's shame. Think about the opposite club, of nations with thuggish bandit regimes that wish us ill and that Barry Bower has sucked up to: Venezuela, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the Palestinian pseudo-Authority... At this rate, the decent world will soon recognize being stiffed or insulted by Barry as a badge of honor. |
| Posted by: lex 2010-04-05 02:06 |
| #4 TOPIX > THE LEFT'S DESTINY IS CLOSELY INTERTWINED WITH INDIA'S, SAYS YERCHAY. CPI Politburo Member Yerchay says SECULARISM + DEMOCRACY CANNOT BE SEPARATED, + that the LEFT must continue its fight agz the NEO-LIBERAL AGENDA, IMPERIALISM + COMMUNALISM as these latter only induce debilitating anarchies not in line with common, or universal peace, equality. + human dev-improvemnt. Also, that NO KIND OF WORKING OR SUSTAINABLE GOVT [in INDIA]CAN BE ACHIEVED WIDOUT THE LEFT. And the USA??? IIUC SCOPE > India's campaign agz NAXALS = COMMIE MAOISTS is actually a STRUGGLE AGZ RIGHTIST NATIONALISTS/SOCIALISTS/ETHNICS, aka FASCISTS. IOW, by fighting agz NAXALS-MAOISTS India is indirectly waging a COVERT CLASSIC COMMIE STRUGGLE AGZ ITS RIGHTIST COMRADES-IN-SOCIALISM THATS [inetntionally]NOT BEING LABELED OR DESCRIBED AS A COMMUNIST STRUGGLE/WAR AGZ RIGHTISM??? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2010-04-05 02:04 |
| #3 Big O does not care about India or its markets or security. He identifies more with Pakistan, a country with multiple personality disorder. He wants to sink the US economy, he has no love for nations with a tradition of representative government. He is a chump that lives in his lefty ideological house of cards and embraces dictatorships. His record speaks for itself. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2010-04-05 01:54 |
| #2 Well. his reflection in the mirror is still on board... |
| Posted by: PBMcL 2010-04-05 00:43 |
| #1 Who isn't annoyed by Obama these days? |
| Posted by: Sherry 2010-04-05 00:35 |