‘Now, US has a big India agenda’

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s re-election was welcomed by the Obama administration which is keen to recapture the magic of the close working relationship Singh shared with former president Bush, obviously in their decision to pursue the N-deal sealed last year.

Foggy Bottom knows it needs to woo Singh anew and that he has been a big driver of improved relations between the US and India. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton, who praised India for doing “a pretty good job” in running the biggest elections in the world, will visit New Delhi “very soon” after Singh’s government is installed.

“Our task is be to strengthen the partnership that exists between US and India, to base that on our converging values and interests,” said assistant secretary of state for South Asia Robert Blake. “The nuclear deal is going well...but there are still a couple of steps that India has to take to implement the agreement.”

The US is thrilled that Singh may not have to rely this time round on scrappy support from Communist parties. They quit the government in opposition to India’s deal with the US on N-deal  — the signature achievement of Singh’s five years in office. The US now expects the new government to begin the process of enacting a nuclear liability law that facilitates compensation in the event of an accident. US companies can’t do business in India till New Delhi signs the Convention on Supplementary Compensation treaty.

Singh’s government has also been working with the Obama administration on the new US plan to bring stability to Afghanistan. Richard Holbrooke, the US special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan, noted India’s critical role. “We can’t settle issues like Afghanistan and many other issues without India’s full involvement,” Holbrooke said.

Strategic affairs analysts, however, warned that the detailed US inter-agency AfPak strategy doesn’t take into account Pakistan’s terror war against India. “Instead, Washington intends to goad New Delhi post-election to reduce border troop deployments a step that would help Pakistan to infiltrate more terrorists into India,” warned Brahma Chellaney in an article.  

Singh will have to protect India’s national security interests while playing hardball with the Obama administration which at least correctly views Pakistan as among the world’s most dangerous falshpoints. “The size of the victory favors Singh for a full term. The US will now engage India in its AfPak strategy, fight with piracy, trade and at all global levels,” said US foreign affairs expert John Mullins. “The US has a big India agenda.”