Commenting on the significance of the upcoming meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Barack Obama, security and strategic affairs expert Uday Bhaskar on Monday said that on the security and strategic front, India and the U.S. have very divergent approaches.
"On the security and strategic front, I think there is a certain challenge here because on certain critical issues India and U.S. have a very divergent approaches," Bhaskar told ANI.
"We are aware that since 1974 till 2008 India and United States had a relationship that was described as estranged. Both the countries had different security policies and perceptions, and I would say that even in 2014 much of the same pattern obtains," he added.
Bhaskar said for the last three decades the U.S. has a certain view about terrorism.
Bhaskar further said, "For India, to reconcile and get the Americans to understand what the India's position is has been a challenge for more than 20 years and Prime Minister Modi will have the same challenge. What kind of relationship will obtain between U.S. and the China and how will that impact India? These are the issues where US and India need to have high level political dialogue and that is what Prime Minister Modi's visit would be able to achieve."
He also said that no substantive breakthroughs can be expected in any of the critical areas like civilian nuclear liability bill, high technology transfer or India's stand on the WTO.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday.