Obama's visit to India doesn't mean much

It seems that many are glad to hear this news that The US President Barack Obama has accepted Mod's invitation for celebration of the 66th Republic Day on 26th January 2014. He has accepted the invitation since he must have leisure and doesn't mean much, I believe. On Obama's visit to the nation, it will just be sheer tokenism and nothing else. I do not think that any precious message will be awarded neither for India nor across the globe. If anyone thinks Obama's visit can be made strengthen and expand the US-Indo relationship, he can be sure that he is travelling in wrong path. Modi just shows his political nature inviting the US President as R-Day Chief Guest.

It would be unwise to expect too much from Obama’s visit to India. Let's not forget the former President Bill Clinton who fascinated many during his visit to India. But what did he really do for out country? On coming to the executive power his, “cap, rollback, eliminate” method invited India to cap its nuclear arms, next roll them back, and at last eliminate them, providing the Big Five a nuclear arms monopoly. He just dismayed India from receiving cryogenic technology from Russia for its missile programme. When India managed nuclear tests in 1998, Clinton foisted economic sanctions.

To Clinton’s glory, he forced Nawaz Sharif to take out Pakistani forces and end the Kargil War of 1999. But this was for the reason that he wished to avoid nuclear war, not because he was pro-India or anti-Pakistan. Drastic change emerged with the Presidency of George W. Bush and the catastrophic episodes of 9/11. For the first time the US observed Islamic terror campaign in the subcontinent as a menace not merely to India but to the US also and the whole world. Pakistan was compelled at gunpoint to team up with the US in Afghanistan, and diminish assistance to militants in Kashmir.

In Obama's Republic Day visit to India, discussing bilateral ties, regional situation and a wide range of issues may be raised and Obama may take up the issues. He will hail India as a coming superpower, and mention that it is a superb thought for India to become a member of the UN Security Council. More, he may speak out that Islamic terrorism must end in Kashmir and Afghanistan and it is predicting that the terrorism will come to an end shortly and so on. Its fine as much as it goes, however cannot vague the reduction of India on the US radar screen. It is not that the US President has dumped the long-lasting strategic interest in India that Bush commenced.

Fairly, Obama is concentrated on imperative short-term issues instead of long-term which will not blow the flourishing Indo-US economic partnership. Any issue which could be raised at political level and it's a precious part of politics and a part of political diversion as well. And eventually, India will gain nothing in Barack Obama's visit.

Now let's take a fresh look at "K-issue": The problem which can never be solved and even I don't think Obama is going to play any significant part in the Kashmir issue. The US does not really want to get involved in this mess for their own commercial interest. It is noticed that every time Obama dodged the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and instead took to the moral high ground to advocate Indo-Pak peace and harmony as the panacea of all evils. More, Obama just about managed to put himself back from dubbing Pakistan a State sponsoring terrorism.

By Mithun Dey