Song And Dance Partners
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TRUE friends are welcome to pop around, even when they have little of substance to talk about. So good is the India-America relationship these days that Barack Obama has been warmly welcomed even when he comes with precious little to say.
The opening part of his four-country Asia trip, in India, may turn out to be a great success (at least compared with the Indonesian part of it, which risks being blown off course by a troublesome volcano). But the first two days delivered little for anyone to get excited about. A few business deals for American companies were brushed together into a package worth some $15 billion, announced in a speech in Mumbai—which supposedly will create 50,000 jobs in America. Disgruntled voters back home are unlikely to pay much heed.
A visit by Mr Obama and the first lady to the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai—scene of a gruesome terrorist attack two years ago—was touching, but as India-America intelligence-sharing is already pretty good, there was nothing much to say about improving matters there.
During an eloquent speech to the combined houses of parliament, in Delhi, Mr Obama did raise a cheer by talking of welcoming India, “in the years ahead”, as a permanent member of a reformed UN Security Council. That is certainly a signal of the warm ties between the two countries, but it is most unlikely that it will lead to any practical changes in the near future. Note that Mr Obama did not say explicitly that America would push for India to get a permanent seat soon, nor is there much sign that America anyway wishes to get UN reform efforts under way.
Inevitably the Indians hoped that Mr Obama would be as rude as possible about Pakistan. The British prime minister, David Cameron, had obliged during a trip in July, saying bluntly that Pakistan exports terrorism over its borders. Confirming as much in London last month, Pakistan’s ex-president, Pervez Musharraf, said he knew militant groups were being allowed across Pakistan’s border in an effort to bring India to the table for talk about Kashmir. Mr Obama talked mostly about encouraging dialogue between the two tetchy neighbours, but was quite explicit in saying that he would “continue to insist to Pakistan’s leaders…that the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks be brought to justice.
Beyond that has left little more than beautiful photo opportunities and a light-footed display by Michelle Obama, who danced along with schoolchildren to a Bollywood number on Saturday and then again on Sunday to a Konkani song. The president gamely joined in, with slightly less aplomb. He is likely to be more at ease discussing economic policy with India’s cerebral prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
India and America could potentially become very close friends indeed. The similarities are many: each has a large territory and population, a federal system, a fondness for democracy, a deeply religious society, a middle class keen on indulging in great material consumption, a history of throwing off British rule, and so on. More important, each country has an uneasy eye on the rising economic, military and diplomatic power of China, in Asia and beyond, and looks to the other to serve as some sort of counterweight.
The opening part of his four-country Asia trip, in India, may turn out to be a great success (at least compared with the Indonesian part of it, which risks being blown off course by a troublesome volcano). But the first two days delivered little for anyone to get excited about. A few business deals for American companies were brushed together into a package worth some $15 billion, announced in a speech in Mumbai—which supposedly will create 50,000 jobs in America. Disgruntled voters back home are unlikely to pay much heed.
A visit by Mr Obama and the first lady to the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai—scene of a gruesome terrorist attack two years ago—was touching, but as India-America intelligence-sharing is already pretty good, there was nothing much to say about improving matters there.
During an eloquent speech to the combined houses of parliament, in Delhi, Mr Obama did raise a cheer by talking of welcoming India, “in the years ahead”, as a permanent member of a reformed UN Security Council. That is certainly a signal of the warm ties between the two countries, but it is most unlikely that it will lead to any practical changes in the near future. Note that Mr Obama did not say explicitly that America would push for India to get a permanent seat soon, nor is there much sign that America anyway wishes to get UN reform efforts under way.
Inevitably the Indians hoped that Mr Obama would be as rude as possible about Pakistan. The British prime minister, David Cameron, had obliged during a trip in July, saying bluntly that Pakistan exports terrorism over its borders. Confirming as much in London last month, Pakistan’s ex-president, Pervez Musharraf, said he knew militant groups were being allowed across Pakistan’s border in an effort to bring India to the table for talk about Kashmir. Mr Obama talked mostly about encouraging dialogue between the two tetchy neighbours, but was quite explicit in saying that he would “continue to insist to Pakistan’s leaders…that the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks be brought to justice.
Beyond that has left little more than beautiful photo opportunities and a light-footed display by Michelle Obama, who danced along with schoolchildren to a Bollywood number on Saturday and then again on Sunday to a Konkani song. The president gamely joined in, with slightly less aplomb. He is likely to be more at ease discussing economic policy with India’s cerebral prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
India and America could potentially become very close friends indeed. The similarities are many: each has a large territory and population, a federal system, a fondness for democracy, a deeply religious society, a middle class keen on indulging in great material consumption, a history of throwing off British rule, and so on. More important, each country has an uneasy eye on the rising economic, military and diplomatic power of China, in Asia and beyond, and looks to the other to serve as some sort of counterweight.
Thus, more so than the monetary value of various military procurement deals announced during Mr Obama’s trip, closer defence co-operation between India and America is what really matters. Already America conducts more joint military exercises with India than it does with any other single country, notably in the Indian Ocean. Now American firms are keen to tap into some $45 billion that India is expected to spend in the next few years on re-equipping its armed forces.
India-America trade is not huge yet—it may reach $50 billion this year, still somewhat less than the value of either country’s trade with China, for example—but it has the potential to grow. Mr Obama, as he was widely expected to do, did announce some easing of export controls on hi-tech goods to India, which will help in the defence and space industries, but it will not transform the trade relationship. More important would be resolving a spat over the liability that foreign investors will face when getting involved in India’s civil-nuclear programme. That, sadly, does not seem to be on the cards.
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