The President of the United States, Barack Obama, pressed all the right buttons on his first day in India. His statements on the bilateral relationship, on terrorism, on business opportunities and on the relations between the peoples of both countries struck all the right chords. The meat, however, was in a series of announcements made regarding lifting of export controls on high-technology equipment exports and the removal of three important institutions in the field of strategic industries and high-tech research and development from the “entities list” that bars trade between US companies and these institutions, namely the Indian Space Research Organisation, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and Bharat Dynamics. Taken together, these decisions will lay the foundation for real defence and strategic cooperation between Indian and American companies. On its part, India will have to do more to encourage foreign direct investment in defence-related industries so that the removal of these entry barriers can encourage real business-to-business interaction in the strategic arena. Getting Indian and US companies to work together in areas like energy, space, ocean exploration and defence production would become the cornerstone of the much-anticipated strategic partnership. The manner in which Indian business leaders have responded to President Obama’s concerns about jobs in America is a good example of statesmanship and business sense on the part of Indian business. He has to say what he has to say, we have to do what we have to do. The bottom line is that good relations can help sort out difficult issues.
President Obama also struck the right notes in Mumbai on a range of other issues, including the shared values of pluralism and democracy that unite the two countries. That he chose not to name Pakistan while referring to the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26, 2008 has rankled some in India, but there is no need to get too shirty about this. Right-wing critics of the United States in India must make up their minds whether they really want the bilateral relationship to be “de-hyphenated” from the Pakistan factor or not. The US has its own interests in Pakistan. Some of its actions are a matter of concern for India. But in dealing with Pakistan, or for that matter any other country, including the US, India too has its own national interests to think about. Just as the US cannot expect India to accept its views on Pakistan, India too should not expect the US to share its views. India must do, and should do, what it must in dealing with countries like Pakistan and China. There are enough reasons why India and the US must work more closely together and these have all been spelt out by many in both countries. Moving ahead on this shared agenda of shared interests is good enough, leaving differences to be resolved over time. The last word on President Obama’s visit will, of course, have to await any joint statement that he and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will issue and his address to Parliament. These may all be about words and gestures, but words and gestures have come to mean a lot in India-US relations.
