WASHINGTON DC: US-India ties appear to be back on track after President Barack Obama assured Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that Washington fully recognized India's security concerns arising from the AfPak region and wouldn't do anything inimical to it since it valued the prospect of a strong strategic partnership with New Delhi.
Relief, satisfaction, and a renewed confidence was palpable among Indian officials as they briefed the media on a 50-minute meeting between Obama and Singh on a beautiful spring afternoon that brought hordes of people to the vicinity of the White House to see the finale of the cherry blossom festival. It also brought back color to US-India ties with Obama's assertion of support on various issues after a rather bleak run-up that called into question that state of play between the two countries.
Among the assurances that the Indian side reported receiving from Obama was that the US would work through the legal process to provide access to LeT terrorist David Headley (a sore point with New Delhi) and also seek continued Indian support in the developmental efforts in Afghanistan.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who briefed the media on the Obama-Singh meeting said the US President told Prime Minister Singh that he fully understood India's concerns about the security situation in the region and assured him that "there is no country in the world where the opportunities for a strong strategic partnership are greater and more important to him and the United States" than the one with India.
Obama's assurance came after Prime Minister Singh strongly raised India's concern with him about Pakistan's relentless pursuit of terrorism as a policy option. "India's interests are constantly on the US mind," Rao, who was part of the Indian delegation at the meeting, quoted President Obama as saying.
A Prime Minister who has gained the reputation of being the most pro-American leader to occupy high office in India stepped up to a Sunday meeting with the US President to convey to him that New Delhi cannot forgo its strategic and security interests to US prevarication or Pakistani pressure in AfPak region, especially as both US and India desired the same end result – the defeat of terrorism.
In this context, Singh had a litany of complaints and grievances that over-ran Obama’s suggestion to reduce tensions through dialogue with Pakistan. Singh told him that he saw no will on part of Pakistan to punish the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai massacre even as terrorists such as Hafeez Mohammed Saeed and Ilyas Kashmir continued to operate with impunity.
The future of South Asia will be determined by the way the menace of terrorism is tackled, Singh said, adding this is where the partnership between India and the US would help. Implicit in his presentation was a call greater pressure from Washington on Pakistan to crack down on its home-grown and fostered jihadi groups such as LeT.
Rao told journalists that the 50 minute meeting was “extremely positive and constructive” although the media scrum before the meeting began made much of the stolid body language on a warm spring day. It was the first meeting between the two leaders after the Singh State visit last November when Obama hosted an elegant dinner banquet for him at the White House.
Ahead of the meeting, the Indian side made it clear in unusually blunt language that New Delhi will not forfeit its core interests in its sphere of influence (read Afghanistan) just because of Pakistani’s existential paranoia.
Pakistan wants Washington to press India to downsize its growing presence and influence in Afghanistan because it fears being caught in a pincer. New Delhi believes its interests in Kabul pre-date the formation of Pakistan; Afghanistan was India’s neighbor before Pakistan was even a glimmer in its founder’s eye.
Singh conveyed this to Obama, along with the Indian position on various other issues the two sides don’t see eye to eye, including Washington pandering to Pakistan’s insatiable hunger for military hardware, and differing perceptions on Iran.
Perhaps aware of the Indian agitation, the White House blocked an hour and 15 minutes for the meeting (from 1.45 p.m to 3 p.m; although the one-on-one was allotted 45 minutes) more time than for any of the other five meetings scheduled for the day (with leaders of Kazakhstan, South Africa, Pakistan, and Nigeria).
In fact, the large time slot suggested the agenda for the meeting extended beyond the nuclear security summit which is the backdrop for some 45 world leaders to convene here. In many cases, certainly in the case of India, bilateral issues have threatened to upstage the summit.
The tough language used ahead of the meeting – and the litany of grievances conveyed by Singh to Obama -- was unusual for New Delhi which has preferred to play a rather muted role even as Washington has ignored India’s concerns over growing Pakistani belligerence built on U.S dependence on it for the war in Afghanistan.
But it reflected the frustration in the Indian establishment over US prevarication in Afghanistan and its pandering to Pakistan’s toxic policies that include backing selective Taliban factions that remain its proxies. Washington has winked at this, and sometimes endorsed it, continuing its efforts to get a handle on the situation.
Singh also pushed back at Obama’s pressure on India to seek accommodation with Pakistan, which Indian officials say was unnecessary considering the prime minister is ahead of (and often at odds with) the public mood in India when it comes to seeking peace with Pakistan.
Obama’s schedule for the day suggested the U.S President will convey India’s position to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who he met some two hours after his meeting with Singh. Incidentally, the last time a Pakistani Prime Minister met the US President on a Sunday in Blair House, he was forced to sue for peace – that was Nawaz Sharief with Bill Clinton on July 3, 1999 during the Kargil War.
Relief, satisfaction, and a renewed confidence was palpable among Indian officials as they briefed the media on a 50-minute meeting between Obama and Singh on a beautiful spring afternoon that brought hordes of people to the vicinity of the White House to see the finale of the cherry blossom festival. It also brought back color to US-India ties with Obama's assertion of support on various issues after a rather bleak run-up that called into question that state of play between the two countries.
Among the assurances that the Indian side reported receiving from Obama was that the US would work through the legal process to provide access to LeT terrorist David Headley (a sore point with New Delhi) and also seek continued Indian support in the developmental efforts in Afghanistan.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who briefed the media on the Obama-Singh meeting said the US President told Prime Minister Singh that he fully understood India's concerns about the security situation in the region and assured him that "there is no country in the world where the opportunities for a strong strategic partnership are greater and more important to him and the United States" than the one with India.
Obama's assurance came after Prime Minister Singh strongly raised India's concern with him about Pakistan's relentless pursuit of terrorism as a policy option. "India's interests are constantly on the US mind," Rao, who was part of the Indian delegation at the meeting, quoted President Obama as saying.
A Prime Minister who has gained the reputation of being the most pro-American leader to occupy high office in India stepped up to a Sunday meeting with the US President to convey to him that New Delhi cannot forgo its strategic and security interests to US prevarication or Pakistani pressure in AfPak region, especially as both US and India desired the same end result – the defeat of terrorism.
In this context, Singh had a litany of complaints and grievances that over-ran Obama’s suggestion to reduce tensions through dialogue with Pakistan. Singh told him that he saw no will on part of Pakistan to punish the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai massacre even as terrorists such as Hafeez Mohammed Saeed and Ilyas Kashmir continued to operate with impunity.
The future of South Asia will be determined by the way the menace of terrorism is tackled, Singh said, adding this is where the partnership between India and the US would help. Implicit in his presentation was a call greater pressure from Washington on Pakistan to crack down on its home-grown and fostered jihadi groups such as LeT.
Rao told journalists that the 50 minute meeting was “extremely positive and constructive” although the media scrum before the meeting began made much of the stolid body language on a warm spring day. It was the first meeting between the two leaders after the Singh State visit last November when Obama hosted an elegant dinner banquet for him at the White House.
Ahead of the meeting, the Indian side made it clear in unusually blunt language that New Delhi will not forfeit its core interests in its sphere of influence (read Afghanistan) just because of Pakistani’s existential paranoia.
Pakistan wants Washington to press India to downsize its growing presence and influence in Afghanistan because it fears being caught in a pincer. New Delhi believes its interests in Kabul pre-date the formation of Pakistan; Afghanistan was India’s neighbor before Pakistan was even a glimmer in its founder’s eye.
Singh conveyed this to Obama, along with the Indian position on various other issues the two sides don’t see eye to eye, including Washington pandering to Pakistan’s insatiable hunger for military hardware, and differing perceptions on Iran.
Perhaps aware of the Indian agitation, the White House blocked an hour and 15 minutes for the meeting (from 1.45 p.m to 3 p.m; although the one-on-one was allotted 45 minutes) more time than for any of the other five meetings scheduled for the day (with leaders of Kazakhstan, South Africa, Pakistan, and Nigeria).
In fact, the large time slot suggested the agenda for the meeting extended beyond the nuclear security summit which is the backdrop for some 45 world leaders to convene here. In many cases, certainly in the case of India, bilateral issues have threatened to upstage the summit.
The tough language used ahead of the meeting – and the litany of grievances conveyed by Singh to Obama -- was unusual for New Delhi which has preferred to play a rather muted role even as Washington has ignored India’s concerns over growing Pakistani belligerence built on U.S dependence on it for the war in Afghanistan.
But it reflected the frustration in the Indian establishment over US prevarication in Afghanistan and its pandering to Pakistan’s toxic policies that include backing selective Taliban factions that remain its proxies. Washington has winked at this, and sometimes endorsed it, continuing its efforts to get a handle on the situation.
Singh also pushed back at Obama’s pressure on India to seek accommodation with Pakistan, which Indian officials say was unnecessary considering the prime minister is ahead of (and often at odds with) the public mood in India when it comes to seeking peace with Pakistan.
Obama’s schedule for the day suggested the U.S President will convey India’s position to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani who he met some two hours after his meeting with Singh. Incidentally, the last time a Pakistani Prime Minister met the US President on a Sunday in Blair House, he was forced to sue for peace – that was Nawaz Sharief with Bill Clinton on July 3, 1999 during the Kargil War.
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