Barack Obama has to delicately balance his diplomacy between China, India and Pakistan (Namaste India, Nov 8). China’s growing ambition is reflected in its unilateral claims over South China Sea, islands in the East and India’s Arunachal Pradesh. However, the US is in sore need of China to broker deals with ‘rogue’ states like Iran and North Korea. Pakistan is in the reckoning if for nothing else then for fighting terror and for engineering America’s safe exit from Afghanistan. India is the only stable democracy in the region providing opportunities for trade and investment. So, India need not shy away from extracting concessions from Obama like lifting of controls on access to dual technology, a permanent seat in the unsc or sounding a warning to Islamabad to stop exporting terror to India.
Kangayam R. Narasimhan, Adyar
For some reason, the Democrats have a reserved approach towards India (it never goes beyond the regular rhetoric) compared to the Republicans. It has been so at least for the last five decades. Will Obama reverse it?
Prasad, Bangalore
India should for once be smart and grab this chance of increasing trade and presence in the world. But there is a good chance that we’ll make a mess of it. The socialist guilt inside us can suddenly spring up and start sloganeering against mnc ‘exploiters’ and capitalism in general. Never mind that Communist China has no problem in getting trillion-dollar American investments and exporting 1,000-billion dollar worth of goods to the US. Or that Pakistanis may keep decrying all values American, but its government has no issues in grabbing all aid possible. It’s time India too started being selfish about its interests and stopped pretending we are the world’s conscience against the US.
Sanjay, Delhi
There is no reason for us to bend over backwards to accommodate US interests just because their president is visiting us. India is the second-largest consumer of American goods and it’s time Indian leaders used this to bargain for our own interests.
S.P. Sharma, Mumbai
One can only hope that Barack Obama’s ‘Namaste India’ does not become a ‘Nemesis for India’ post his visit.
Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi
