US says strategic ties with India 'will carry over into next century' - The Times of India
WASHINGTON: Waving aside dark clouds of multiple trade disputes and mistrust arising from US spying activities, the Obama administration said on Wednesday that its bet on a strategic relationship with India "will carry over into the next century."
A senior US administration official who previewed with journalists Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit starting on Thursday made light of the numerous wrinkles in the ties, and insisted the word "transformational" was not misplaced in describing what President Obama has repeatedly called a defining partnership in the 21st century. In fact, he projected it into the 22nd century, milking the usual set of superlatives that have been used to talk-up the relationship.
"If you look at the course of the last decade, some of the most contentious issues like defense cooperation and nuclear energy are centerpieces of the ties today," the official, who cannot be named under the background briefing rules, said.
Prime Minister Singh will meet President Obama at the White House Oval Office on Friday morning before they will be joined by their respective delegations for a working lunch.
First lady Michelle Obama will host a separate tea for Gursharan Kaur, the Prime Minister's wife, in what the official said is a "distinctive and unusual feature" that reflects the closeness of both the bilateral ties, and relations between the two leaders and their spouses.
However, questions from the scribes at the White House briefing reflected the many vexing, contentious issues between the two sides, ranging from the US National Security Agency's alleged eavesdropping on Indian missions and entities in US and in India, to differences over the nuclear liability law, to provisions in the proposed immigration laws that New Delhi feels will put Indian IT industry at a disadvantage.
But the US official shrugged off the concerns, pointing to the larger "organic" canvas of a multifaceted relationship. He declined to go into the NSA spying issue. He contested the commentary from some quarters that the relationship has come adrift or plateaued. He seemed to agree there was a period of stasis some six months back, but he said "things have moved forward since them" with the US vice-president's visit to India, and would be "superlatively topped" off with the Prime Minister's visit.
In separate background briefings, Indian officials too have talked up the big picture, but have expressed greater concern in discussing issues such as market access in granular details. The impression one gets is that the American side wants everything its way from unfettered access to Indian markets (while legislating road blocks to Indian IT professionals and businesses) to a largely transactional defense relationship which mostly involves conditional sales. On the nuclear liability issue too, the US expects India to find ways to finesse contracts between private entities involved in the deal, while publicly expressing respect for the legislation the Indian parliament has already passed.
While analysts such as Carnegie Endowment's Ashley Tellis expect Prime Minister Singh to cement his legacy of strong ties with the US by "tying a ribbon" on some agreements, notably an early works agreement on the civilian nuclear deal, others were not so sanguine about any major advances.
"India is in pre-election mode and domestic and local-level issues will dominate the political discourse until national elections are completed. Political populism will take precedence over any deepening of ties with the US. in the short-term," Karl Inderfurth and Persis Khambatta of the thinktank Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a preview of the visit.
Prime Minister Singh will leave Washington on Friday evening to go New York, where he will deliver an address before the UN general assembly on Saturday. It is now confirmed that he will meet Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief on the sidelines of the UNGA in what is expected to be another token encounter, given Pakistan's disinclination to crack down on its homegrown extremists.
WASHINGTON: Waving aside dark clouds of multiple trade disputes and mistrust arising from US spying activities, the Obama administration said on Wednesday that its bet on a strategic relationship with India "will carry over into the next century."
A senior US administration official who previewed with journalists Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit starting on Thursday made light of the numerous wrinkles in the ties, and insisted the word "transformational" was not misplaced in describing what President Obama has repeatedly called a defining partnership in the 21st century. In fact, he projected it into the 22nd century, milking the usual set of superlatives that have been used to talk-up the relationship.
"If you look at the course of the last decade, some of the most contentious issues like defense cooperation and nuclear energy are centerpieces of the ties today," the official, who cannot be named under the background briefing rules, said.
Prime Minister Singh will meet President Obama at the White House Oval Office on Friday morning before they will be joined by their respective delegations for a working lunch.
First lady Michelle Obama will host a separate tea for Gursharan Kaur, the Prime Minister's wife, in what the official said is a "distinctive and unusual feature" that reflects the closeness of both the bilateral ties, and relations between the two leaders and their spouses.
However, questions from the scribes at the White House briefing reflected the many vexing, contentious issues between the two sides, ranging from the US National Security Agency's alleged eavesdropping on Indian missions and entities in US and in India, to differences over the nuclear liability law, to provisions in the proposed immigration laws that New Delhi feels will put Indian IT industry at a disadvantage.
But the US official shrugged off the concerns, pointing to the larger "organic" canvas of a multifaceted relationship. He declined to go into the NSA spying issue. He contested the commentary from some quarters that the relationship has come adrift or plateaued. He seemed to agree there was a period of stasis some six months back, but he said "things have moved forward since them" with the US vice-president's visit to India, and would be "superlatively topped" off with the Prime Minister's visit.
In separate background briefings, Indian officials too have talked up the big picture, but have expressed greater concern in discussing issues such as market access in granular details. The impression one gets is that the American side wants everything its way from unfettered access to Indian markets (while legislating road blocks to Indian IT professionals and businesses) to a largely transactional defense relationship which mostly involves conditional sales. On the nuclear liability issue too, the US expects India to find ways to finesse contracts between private entities involved in the deal, while publicly expressing respect for the legislation the Indian parliament has already passed.
While analysts such as Carnegie Endowment's Ashley Tellis expect Prime Minister Singh to cement his legacy of strong ties with the US by "tying a ribbon" on some agreements, notably an early works agreement on the civilian nuclear deal, others were not so sanguine about any major advances.
"India is in pre-election mode and domestic and local-level issues will dominate the political discourse until national elections are completed. Political populism will take precedence over any deepening of ties with the US. in the short-term," Karl Inderfurth and Persis Khambatta of the thinktank Center for Strategic and International Studies wrote in a preview of the visit.
Prime Minister Singh will leave Washington on Friday evening to go New York, where he will deliver an address before the UN general assembly on Saturday. It is now confirmed that he will meet Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief on the sidelines of the UNGA in what is expected to be another token encounter, given Pakistan's disinclination to crack down on its homegrown extremists.
![[Bregs]](/data/avatars/m/148/148509.jpg?1491816884){kind=avatar}
seriously ?
