ET Bureau
The Indo-US relationship may be more important, but the Pak-US relationship is more urgent, and that matters more right now. This is the best way of understanding Pakistan's clearance from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for the supply of two additional Chinese nuclear power reactors. During his recent visit, President Barack Obama assured India that the US would oppose the Sino-Pak nuclear deal.
This should have been decisive, since NSG clearance requires a unanimous vote. But the US apparently remained silent at the June 23-24 NSG meeting, when China got clearance on the dubious and hotly contested ground that the deal preceded Beijing's entry into the NSG in 2004, and so was 'grandfathered' . India had to go through several hoops to get its nuclear reactors: it had to amend its laws, separate its civilian reactors and put them under IAEA safeguards , sign the 123 agreement with the US, supplementary agreement with the IAEA and so on. But Pakistan will get its two new reactors without any such commitments.
Clearly, euphoria in India over the Indo-US relationship has been excessive. The Bush-Manmohan Singh agreement viewed the nuclear deal as just part of a larger strategic relationship. But India said this did not mean it would not seek strategic ties with others too. The US has taken the same line. It holds a strategic dialogue every year not only with India but with China and Pakistan too. The Afghan imbroglio means that Pakistan is far more central than India to US politics. The Pak-US relationship is a very troubled one: Obama knows Pakistan backs some Islamist groups even while combating others, and this is a dangerous double game.
Yet, Pakistan provides essential logistics for moving supplies into Afghanistan , so the US cannot do without Pakistani cooperation, no matter how double-edged . US silence at the NSG looks like part of a bigger game of placating Pakistan over drone attacks and violating Pakistani sovereignty in killing Osama bin Laden. In the medium run, the US relationship with India will prove more important. But for now, the relationship with Pakistan is more urgent. That's why Pakistan triumphed at the NSG meeting.
My understanding of this is that america told india one thing but when push came to shove let india down. What a great friend the US makes. lol