Obama & India

Whatever your impression of the Obama administration's foreign policy to date, it does seem the administration has not found its footing with respect to India. First, there was the blow-up over Richard Holbrooke's "AfPak" portfolio (he wanted it to include India, until the Indians reportedly spiked that idea). Now the Indian press is reporting on worry that the Joint Declaration signed by the U.S. in China this week will undermine Indian security:

The joint statement issued by US and China, after the talks between Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao, declared that both sides "support the improvement and growth of relations between India and Pakistan."

This created much confusion and suspicion in New Delhi.

"At a time when Indian public opinion was looking forward to fruitful results from the forthcoming visit of PM Singh to the US, reports from Beijing on Obama's visit to China would strengthen the impression that Obama is not well-disposed towards India," said strategic analyst B Raman.

America and China have named India and Pakistan in their joint statement after a decade -- but the last time US was furious over India conducting the Pokhran nuclear tests. This time, the joint statement has raised questions about Obama's understanding of India.

G Parthasarathy, former high commissioner to Pakistan, told rediff.com, "India has cause to be concerned when there is collusion or confrontation, rather than constructive cooperation, between the United States and China. The statements made during Obama's visit to China smacked of collusion, giving China the status of a regional hegemon -- that too just after China's role in providing nuclear weapon capabilities to Pakistan was made public in the US."

He added, "There is no room for a third chair on the table on India-Pakistan issues".

(AP Photos)