US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s visit to India later this month may not result in any big-ticket items being signed, but an agreement on education is being worked out. It will, however, be a symbolic gesture aimed at reassuring India that the Obama administration places great importance to its ties with New Delhi.
Secretary Clinton wants to dispel the feeling that with George Bush out of the White House, India is no longer a priority with Washington and that the administration is looking more to China as the major player in Asia.
The fact that Hillary Clinton’s first visit after assuming office was to China sent a clear message of Beijing’s importance in the new set-up. The global meltdown, too, added more weight to China’s role in stabilising the world economy.
While Clinton reassures India about Washington’s desire to take strategic ties with New Delhi to the next level, South Block is pragmatic and knows that, at the moment, the US is mainly focused on Pakistan.
And Islamabad is making every attempt to get Kashmir back into international focus. Every second day Pakistani leaders issue statements on the importance of solving the Kashmir issue. Pakistan prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who is close to army chief Ashfaq Kayeni, rakes up Kashmir every second day.
Clinton’s visit comes at a time when Kashmir is on the boil. It might even be stepped up before she arrives for separatists to cry human rights violation by the Indian state.
President Barack Obama’s statements, before taking office, on the need to resolve Kashmir had given both separatists and Pakistan a glimmer of hope. But once in office Obama realised India is not willing to allow Washington to dictate terms. In the initial days, India sent a demarche when Obama wanted to designate special envoy Holbrooke as an envoy for Kashmir.
