India is not amused

[Hafizzz]

Obama is going to Pakistan. India is not amused.
Obama is going to Pakistan. India is not amused. - CSMonitor.com

The announcement Thursday that President Obama would visit Pakistan next year has sapped enthusiasm in India for his visit in early November. The timing of was insensitive to India, critics say.

The announcement Thursday that President Obama will visit Pakistan in 2011 has further sapped enthusiasm in India for Mr. Obama’s visit here next month.

For much of the 20th century, the US pursued a “hyphenated” foreign policy toward India and Pakistan. Washington attempted to balance diplomatic visits and trade deals it offered to one country, considering its relationship to the other. Given the strong military ties between Washington and Islamabad, this resulted in limiting US-India relations.

As India began to emerge economically, Washington began to “de-hyphenate” its South Asian diplomacy. India and the US forged a landmark civilian nuclear trade deal, something not offered to Pakistan, a country with nuclear proliferation in its recent past.
Perception in India

But under Obama, Pakistan has used its leverage over the Afghan war to distract the US from deepening ties with India. The perception in New Delhi is that Pakistan’s gambit is working. Analysts here see little momentum behind Obama's India visit, with some worrying that the announcement of his intention to go to Pakistan next year may actually send relations between the US and India backward.

“This is going to do some damage to the relationship” between Washington and New Delhi, says Sumit Ganguly, an Indian-American scholar of South Asia currently on sabbatical in New Delhi. “Now you will hear the expression in New Delhi ‘re-hyphenation.’ ”

Under the Obama administration, the US and India have struggled to shift their relationship into a higher gear, and of late, the gears have been grinding.

Over the summer, the US announced it would continue arms sales to Pakistan – despite revelations about the country’s involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks.

That followed a joint US-China statement last year that offered help “on issues related to South Asia.” India bristled at the notion of Chinese involvement in the subcontinent, particularly given close Chinese ties to Pakistan and its own deepening rivalry with Beijing.
Mixed messages?

To be sure, the Obama administration has showered New Delhi with some diplomatic honors. Obama invited Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Washington for his administration’s first state dinner. And, following diplomatic protocol, Obama comes to India for a reciprocal visit slated to start Nov. 4.

Prior to the White House announcement, says Dr. Ganguly, Indians were starting to console themselves about Obama's recent attention to them. “The Indians were actually saying to themselves, ‘Look, he’s not going to Pakistan.’ ”

He calls the timing of Obama's announcement “myopic,” adding: “It sets a very poor tone just on the eve of the visit to India.”

The US embassy in New Delhi declined to comment on the issue, referring instead to today’s White House statement on the Pakistan trip.

The announcement of a Pakistan trip came after Obama met with a Pakistani delegation this week. Pakistan’s Army chief, foreign minister, and other senior officials are visiting Washington as part of an ongoing strategic dialogue focusing on the Afghan war.

“The President explained that he would not be stopping in Pakistan during his trip to Asia next month, and committed to visiting Pakistan in 2011, as well as welcoming President Zardari to Washington,” read the White House statement.

Other analysts here downplayed the announcement.

“This is not totally surprising, and neither should India be very worried about it,” says Suba Chandran, a security analyst with the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi.

He says that Obama signaled early on in his tenure that he would not focus as hard as his predecessor, President Bush, on deepening a strategic partnership with India.

But while Obama has given more attention to Pakistan in an effort to find an exit to the Afghan war, Mr. Chandran sees little danger of “re-hyphenation” given the broader economic and defense interests between India and the United States.

Obama is the man !!! Yo Yo Yo !!!

 

[Last Hope]

Just pray that he makes the deal to give Pakistan a fleet of F35s!

I am going to be sick of the protocols that are going to take place

 

[Savior]

US rules out mediation in Kashmir



Washington: Rejecting fresh calls by Pakistan seeking its intervention on the Kashmir issue, the US has made it clear that it was for India and Pakistan to find a resolution through “additional dialogue”. The American position was affirmed a day after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi insisted that US play an active role in the resolution of Kashmir and other disputes in the south Asian region.

US rules out mediation in Kashmir

"We recognise the importance of Kashmir to both countries. We absolutely want to see tensions eased and ultimately a resolution to the situation in Kashmir," State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said at a news conference at the Foreign Press Centre here.

"That we believe needs to come through additional dialogue between Pakistan and India. We have not been asked by both countries to play a particular role," he said.

US rules out mediation in Kashmir

"But this is the reason why, for a number of reasons we continue to encourage further dialogue between India and Pakistan," Crowley said in response to a question. Qureshi, who is in Washington for the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue, had raised the Kashmir issue at a conference, asking the US to help in its resolution.

"It is in the interest of lasting peace, stability and development of the region that the US works for the resolution of disputes in South Asia. This has to begin with justice for the Kashmiri people," Qureshi said.

Qureshi also spoke about the recent unrest in Jammu and Kashmir and said "any person of conscience cannot ignore the use of brute force against defenceless Kashmiri youth."

US rules out mediation in Kashmir

"In this unfolding tragedy over 100 Kashmiris have lost their lives in the past three months, many of them teenagers," he said. Qureshi was responding to a question at an event jointly organised by the prestigious Brookings Institute and Asia Society.

His comments came hours after the third round of the Strategic Dialogue between the U.S. and Pakistan began. Contending that Pakistan is "deeply interested" in a peaceful and stable South Asia, Qureshi claimed that the prospect, however, "is in danger again by the recent events in Kashmir."

US rules out mediation in Kashmir

The Pakistani Foreign Minister's comments have come despite US' repeated assertion that Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and it has to be solved by the two countries. In response to another question, Qureshi said Pakistan wants good neighbourly ties with India.

"Pakistan wants a very good neighbourly relationship with India. What we are saying is we have outstanding issues. Both sides have agreed that dialogue is the only sensible way forward," he said.