Manmohan-Obama summit achieves little
From Nantoo Banerjee
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s last summit with US President Barack Obama here today, before India goes to the polls next year, to reflect the transformation that Dr. Singh has sought in the relationship of the two countries achieved only a partial success with the bilateral summit making little progress on coming together on key issues concerning strategic co-operation, joint defence production and technology transfer, India’s permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Pakistan’s role in cross-border terrorism, India’s role in Afghanistan post US military withdrawal next year, trade and investment, new US law enabling job visa restriction and environment protection laws among others.
Instead, in a major diplomatic success for Pakistan, a well-planned US announcement of a summit between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff next month, as if to mark the arrival of the Indian Prime Minister here, watered down the spirit of the much-hyped Indo-US summit and diminished the possibility of India receiving a strong US support against constant Pakistan army-sponsored acts of cross-border terrorism in India vitiating the peace atmosphere in the region. The message was clear: Don’t expect the US to rub its long time ally Pakistan on the India-specific Pakistani cross border terror exports issue beyond a point. India will have to deal with Pakistan directly to resolve the problem.
Yet, with all fairness to soft-spoken Dr Manmohan Singh, he was more than ready to honestly address most of US bilateral concerns. There were no dearth of sincerity and openness in the approach of the Indian Prime minister to turn around American sentiment on India. But, that might not have cut the ice with President Obama’s team who would rather wait until India gets a new government after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls while extracting as much concessions for US business and industry as possible from a going government. These are stark realities in international diplomacy.
Even the latest round of policy changes by India in the areas of trade and investment, which US companies could exploit to their advantage, failed to find much appreciation from the US government and industry majors, including defence manufacturers. One can blame it onto the timing of the bilateral summit coming as it is at the fag end of the 10-year-old Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. Later today, the Prime Minister is scheduled to address a select group US company CEOs in New York.
Despite Dr Singh’s assurance before the Obama administration, the US was less forthcoming on a number of issues including nuclear, defence, movement of intellectual persons especially with IT and ITeS background and US-Pakistan and US-Afghanistan relations having direct impact on security and bilateral relationship with both the countries as they were mostly left to tender mercies of a brutal bureaucracy on either side.
On India’s part, the country had largely met the US wish list to attract higher American direct investment in several sectors and agreed to work together towards an ambitious U.S. civil nuclear investment proposal. Prior to the Prime Minister’s visit, India’s top economy managers such as Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had gone to the US to explain the recent changes in the country’s economic policy framework before the Obama administration, lawmakers and businessmen.
Disappointingly for India, Washington remains unmoved by its pleas to amend its new immigration laws that seek to impose higher visa fees on Indian software professionals seeking to work in the U.S. for a short term. The U.S. argues that the proposed law will nearly triple the number of H-1B visas for skilled workers. India disagrees and maintains that the measure constituted a non-trade barrier. Indians might well benefit in the long run, concede Indian officials, but hold that commercial interests would be badly hit by the tweaking of immigration laws. “We don’t know what will be final form of the comprehensive US immigration reform act. We are in constant talks with the US government and lawmakers on the issue as a law in the present form will certainly hurt the interest of Indian IT companies,” said the Indian Ambassador in Washington DC, Ms Nirupama Rao, in a pre-summit interaction with Indian media.
The Indian ambassador said despite delays, which are normal in major techno-commercial negotiations such as nuclear supplies, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has reached a ‘pre-early work agreement’ with Westinghouse Corporation for its nuclear power project in Gujarat. She insisted that there was no dilution of India’s civil nuclear liability law to accommodate Westinghouse. “It is all within the four corners of the law,” she said.
In defence, both sides will look at a $7-billion opportunity for the U.S. arms industry in securing multi-role helicopters for the Indian Navy. They will look at tying up loose ends in deals that are in the pipeline, including add-on orders for transport planes. They would also touch on the progress made so far in the Defence Trade Initiative, which is aimed at relaxing U.S. laws to allow greater joint R&D efforts on defence products.
In November 2010, President Barack Obama visited India and addressed a joint session of the Indian Parliament, where he backed India’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. In November 2010, Obama became the second US President (after Richard Nixon in 1969) to undertake a visit to India in his first term in office. On 8 November, Obama also became the second US President to ever address a joint session of Parliament of India. In a major policy shift, Obama declared US support for India’s permanent membership on the UN Security Council. Calling the India-US relationship “a defining partnership of the 21st century”, he also announced the removal of export control restrictions on several Indian companies, and concluded trade deals worth $10 billion, which were expected to create and/or support 50,000 jobs in the US.
As in the case of the previous summit, this time too it was Obama who extracted more business benefits from India, giving only promises and assurances to Dr. Singh in return. [IPA]