Yet the visit produced some successes anyway. Primary among them must be the joint declaration on defence co-operation that Dr Singh made with Barack Obama. As a general principle, the declaration placed each other "at the same level as their closest partners", especially when it came to technology transfer, co-development and co-production in the defence sphere. This is one of the strongest possible acknowledgements of a commonality of strategic interests between the US and India. It also reveals that, recent hurdles apart, the bilateral relationship is now considered reliable. For India's defence purchases, for its defence industry, and for industry as a whole, the implications are considerable. Access to cutting-edge US technology will be eased. As long as the benefits of technology transfer and shared research are not monopolised by the public sector units under India's defence ministry, and are spread more widely in the manufacturing sector (including to private players), the spillover effect into high-tech manufacturing more generally would in itself justify this agreement. No discernible progress was, however, made on other issues of interest to some Indians, such as the US immigration Bill. Dr Singh also drew the implication, probably correctly, from recent anti-India sentiment in the US that the best way to answer such complaints would be to revive economic growth domestically.
Dr Singh's firmness with Pakistan, meanwhile, could be considered a step back in the context of a composite dialogue, and thus a comprehensive rapprochement with India's neighbour seems further away than ever. However, if it is assumed that for a peace process to work, public opinion cannot be continually inflamed with incidents at the Line of Control (LoC), then the meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should also be considered a positive movement. A structured mechanism by which directors-general of military operations on both sides meet and see how the LoC can be returned to the general tranquillity that has characterised recent years is worth trying.
Somewhat like Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, Manmohan Singh's record at home is not as good as while playing away. Thus, even the best of foreign initiatives have got stuck in mismanaged domestic politics. Dr Singh said he promised Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that domestic politics would not continue to get in the way of solving the border issue. Unless developments with Pakistan and the US are followed up in New Delhi without letting domestic bureaucracy or jingoism intervene, they will be meaningless. In other words, if effectiveness abroad is not replicated at home, the gains of this visit will be lost.