|
| Obama admn should demonstrate its vision for Indo-US relations |
| Lalit K Jha/ PTI / Washington Jul 17, 2009, 10:56 IST |
|
With Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her maiden visit to India, an American foreign policy expert feels the top US diplomat should demonstrate that Obama Administration has a strategic vision for Indo-US relations.
Senior Research Fellow on South Asia in the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, Lisa Curtis said the new Administration's strategic vision must acknowledge New Delhi's growing global economic, political, and geo-strategic clout.
Clinton, however, should be careful not to link terrorism in India to the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir, she argued.
Another expert, Evan Feigenbaum, senior fellow for East, Central and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, added that Clinton would be continuing with the agenda of the previous Bush Administration.
This is because the Indo-US relationship has reached the phase of bipartisan support and the American leadership feels it is important for national security and economic prosperity to deepen the strategic tie up with India, he argued.
"I think she's in a position to reap the harvest of what has been an utterly transformational decade in US-India relations," Feigenbaum said.
Curtis shared the Secretary of State will likely try to assuage concerns among some people that Obama Administration lacks the Bush Administration's determination to advance the relationship.
Clinton should also make it clear that Pakistan must crackdown on terrorist groups within its borders, like the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT), the group responsible for the Mumbai carnage, Curtis said.
LeT leader Hafiz Muhammed Sayeed's early release from jail has shed fresh doubt on the Pakistani commitment to act against the terrorist group, she pointed out.
Observing that the US gains little by continuing to publicly press for a resumption of Indo-Pakistani talks as an end in itself, Curtis added it should instead quietly encourage changes in the dynamics of the Indo-Pak relationship that will reduce tensions and uproot terrorism from the region.
The Senior Research Fellow said Indian strategic thinkers have expressed concern that Obama advisors appear less sceptical of China and its role in the region than the Bush team and are more interested in placating the Chinese than in strengthening India.
"These misgivings have developed at the same time that Indian concerns regarding China and its regional intentions are increasing."
Meanwhile, Feigenbaum, who in the Bush Administration, headed India desk at the State Department in the capacity as the Deputy Secretary of State for South Asia, said: "I think the agenda is going to be broadly consistent with the agenda of the last administration."
Feigenbaum discussed it is essentially bipartisan nature of US-India relations right now on both the sides — both NDA and UPA governments in India have taken steps to improve the relationship, while Republican and Democratic administrations in the US take steps to further the relations.
"So it's a largely bipartisan agenda, in many ways. She'll be building in many ways on what her predecessors have done," he argued.
The expert pointed out issues relevant to both the countries — defence, civil space, climate change and some arms control treaties.
He said that given the global scenario and emergence of India as a major power, Washington and New Delhi should talk about their common interests around the world, not just in South Asia.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Read Business news in |  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertisements |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Content Guide
