India part of our big plan: Obama to Manmohan

Three days of packed meets with govt heads NSA has long discussion with US counterpart

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chose to stay away from the media on his return journey from the Association of South East Nations (Asean) summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, ahead of what is likely to be a stormy Parliament session.

The PM, who was expected to brief the press this evening on the Asean-India summit, the East Asia Summit and the many bilateral dialogues he has had with world leaders, including the heads of government of China and Japan during the past three days, was said to be “not too well”. The PM had a couple of minutes of a “pull away” meeting with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Retreat session on the East Asia Summit, of which global powers like the US, Japan and China, among others, are members. The East Asia Summit and the Asean-India meet were being held alongside the main Asean deliberations. The summit concluded on Tuesday.

 

Singh and Obama exchanged pleasantries, perhaps during a coffee break, a source said. There was no structured meeting but Obama is learnt to have told Singh, “India is part of the big plan we have.” Singh, meeting Obama for the first time after his re-election, congratulated him. The two had met briefly at last night’s gala dinner hosted for the world leaders, too. This was the first time a US president was visiting Cambodia, thereby stepping up the engagement of the Western world with Asia and more particularly East Asia. India is already focused on a “look east” policy.

National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon met his American counterpart, Tom Donilon, for about 90 minutes in the Cambodian capital on Tuesday on strategic issues but the government did not elaborate on details of the meeting.

With the Opposition parties pressing for voting in Parliament on the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the retail sector, the PM might have decided not to face questions from the media, The PM, who held bilateral talks with six countries’ heads in the past three days, did not interact with the media through the visit. But, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma, part of the official delegation, was put on the job once again to take questions mid-flight, on issues related to Asean or any other .

He again put up a brave front on the FDI issue, saying, “Let them (Opposition) bring the matter to Parliament…The government is prepared for it.” Adding, “We will effectively answer our opponents.” Specifically on the ruling coalition’s DMK constituent opposing FDI in multi-brand retail, the minister said, “DMK is a valuable ally. We will convince them and ensure their concerns are put at rest.”

On the criticism that FDI in the sector would adversely impact the country,Sharma asked, “Will just the colour of the money (coming in) hurt the Indian economy?”

PHNOM PENH DIARY

Of hotels, hospitality and a meeting

• US President Barack Obama’s engagements on the sidelines of the Asean summit and his “tense” meeting with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen dominated the local press, including the leading newspaper The Phnom Penh Post. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh didn’t get mileage in the local press, despite his series of bilaterals with world leaders and his role in Asean-India summit. Whether it’s the roads, hotels or the media, Obama is clearly the flavour of the season
   
• The official media hotel for the Indian and the US contingent, The Nagaworld, was the talk of the town during the summit. Even top India government officials were heard saying they were impressed with the hotel that the media was staying in. While Cambodiana, where the prime minister, his entourage, and some world leaders were put up, looked breathtaking from outside, a local official pointed out that Nagaworld was rated as a much better hotel than Cambodiana, a heritage property. The buzz was that Nagaworld had a casino entry, with a full floor devoted to gambling day and night, and that may have played a part in determining the venue of the prime minister’s stay. Of course, there’s no official word on this one
   
• The Peace Palace, the destination for the Asean and the parallel summits, was seen with awe for the grand show in the week-long event where close to 20 world leaders had gathered. Technology played an important role in all this, officials pointed out. And, South Korea, it seems, should be given full marks for that, they added
   
• Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is not the only one attending the Asean or the parallel meets in official capacity for the last time. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was there with the US President during the South-East Asia trip, including in Phnom Penh, perhaps for the last time in her official capacity. According to reports, Obama and Clinton spent quality time together on the flight to Phnom Penh, talking about the last four years
   
• All eyes were on the Asean summit to see if there would be a one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Singh and President Obama.
  But all that had emerged till the afternoon of the last day of the event was a group photo of the two leaders, in the same frame but separated by a few men. But the two leaders met for a couple of minutes during the Retreat session, which began in the evening