India feels the chill as US warms to China
When Manmohan Singh, India's prime minister, last visited Washington, in 2005, he was presented with a historic gift by then President George W. Bush: the US-India civilian nuclear agreement that ended New Delhi's decades-old “nuclear pariah” status and was seen as being implicitly aimed at containing a rising China.
Barack Obama has already struck a warm personal rapport with Mr Singh on the sidelines of two G20 summits this year. But as Mr Singh begins a state visit to Washington today, there is concern in New Delhi that India has moved down the US's list of priorities, anxieties re- inforced by Mr Obama's emollient overtures to China during his eight-day east-Asian tour last week.
“I don't think the US has made up its mind as to where it sees India in its geopolitical view,” said Arundhati Ghose, India's former ambassador to the United Nations.
But US officials have been at pains to emphasise the long-term importance to Washington of its relationship with India, the world's largest democracy.“Few relationships matter more to our collective future, or hold greater promise for constructive action on the challenges that matter most for us, than the partnership between the US and India,” William Burns, US undersecretary of state for political affairs, said.
But C. Raja Mohan, an influential Indian strategic affairs analyst, said relations between New Delhi and Washington had suffered from “a bit of exhaustion from both sides” after the breakthroughs of the past few years, which saw the burial of decades-old cold war-era suspicions.
“The Obama administration is very keen on this relationship and wants to move it forward, but in terms of operationally, what's happened because of the financial crisis, there is that much attention to China,” he said.
Mr Singh's trip to Washington is seen as the opportunity to revive and reinvigorate those ties.
Certainly working relations have never been better. In the wake of last year's Mumbai attacks, in which 166 people died, including six Americans, India and the US have engaged in unprecedented intelligence co-operation.
India also signed a $2.1bn (€1.4bn, £1.3bn) deal this year to buy eight maritime reconnaissance aircraft from Boeing, its largest-ever acquisition of US military hardware, and American companies are vying for a $10bn deal to supply 126 fighter jets to update India's Soviet-era strike force. Bilateral trade, meanwhile, has doubled since 2004 to more than $43bn a year.
It is against this backdrop that the two leaders are expected to explore areas of mutual interest, including Afghanistan, global climate change, the development of green energy, agricultural co-operation and enhancing Indian education.
“The big picture in Washington is that China and India are rising and the Obama administration wants to engage them both to help solve the world's problems,” said David Rothkopf, a former official in the Clinton administration, which paved the way for Mr Bush's Indian charm offensive.
Mr Singh's trip is the first full state visit of the Obama administration, with a White House dinner tomorrow to be attended by 400 guests, and is the first time India has headed a US president's list for a state visit. But diplomatic pageantry will not be sufficient to assuage Indian concerns about Washington's broader strategic vision, especially after last week when Mr Obama and Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, jointly affirmed their commitment to work for stability in the “south-Asia region”.
New Delhi, which has atense relationship with China and suspects it of fomenting trouble locally, issued a statement emphasising “non-interference”.
“The Obama administration's relations with India are guided by the tide of events and we found the desire to cuddle up to China at our expense during his visit to Beijing particularly disconcerting,” said Gopalapuram Parthasarathy, a former Indian high commissioner to Pakistan.
New Delhi and Washington are still struggling to bridge their differences over India's reprocessing of US-supplied nuclear fuel, which must be resolved before India can buy nuclear reactors from US companies. India is also worried the US is not heeding its views on Afghanistan, for which New Delhi has provided $1.2bn in aid, and its fears about any return of the Taliban.
But whatever prickliness the Indians may have with the US, conversation has never been a problem. The contrast with Mr Obama's stilted interactions with Mr Hu could not be sharper.
分析：奥巴马对华态度让印度不安
印度总理曼莫汉•辛格(Manmohan Singh)上次访问华盛顿是在2005年，当时的美国总统乔治•W•布什(George W. Bush)送给他一件历史性礼物：美印民用核协议，结束了印度数十年之久的“核贱民”地位，此举也被认为暗含有遏制正在崛起的中国之意。
利用今年二十国集团(G20)两场峰会的间隙，巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)与辛格结下了友好的私人关系。但在辛格今日开始对华盛顿进行国事访问之际，印度却在担心自己在美国重点名单上的地位有所下落。奥巴马在上周为 期8天的亚洲之行中对中国示好，加重了印度的焦虑。
“我认为，美国还没决定好在地缘政治层面如何看待印度，”印度前驻联合国大使阿兰达蒂•戈斯(Arundhati Ghose)表示。
但美国官员不厌其烦地强调，与印度这个全球人口最多民主国家之间的关系，对于华盛顿具有长期的重要性。
“就我们共同的未来而言，几乎没什么关系比印美关系更加重要。就我们面临的最重要挑战采取建设性行动而言，也几乎没什么关系比印美关系蕴含更大的希望，”美国负责政治事务的副国务卿威廉•伯恩斯(William Burns)表示。
但印度一位具有影响力的战略分析师C•拉贾•莫汉(C. Raja Mohan)表示，印美关系在近些年取得突破、埋葬了长达数十年的冷战时代的猜疑后，“双方都有点儿疲惫”，使双边关系受到影响。
他表示：“奥巴马政府颇为热衷于印美关系，希望推进这种关系，但在操作层面，从金融危机后发生的种种情况看，很多注意力转向了中国。”
辛格的华盛顿之行，被认为是恢复、重振双方关系的一个机会。
当然，双方合作关系从未如此密切。在去年发生孟买袭击事件、导致166人死亡（包括6名美国人）后，印度和美国展开了空前的情报合作。
印度今年还签署了价值21亿美元的协议，将向波音(Boeing)购买8架海上侦察机，这是该国有史以来最大手笔采购美国军用装备。美国企业还在争 夺一项价值100亿美元的协议，以求向印度供应126架战斗机，以更新印度的苏式军备。与此同时，双边贸易自2004年以来翻了一倍，增至每年逾430亿 美元。
正是在这种背景下，外界预计，两国领导人将探索共同感兴趣的领域，包括阿富汗问题、全球气候变化、开发绿色能源、农业合作以及提高印度的教育水平。
“华盛顿面对的大局是，中国和印度都正在崛起，奥巴马政府希望接触这两个国家，让他们都来帮助解决全球问题，”原克林顿政府的官员大卫•罗斯科夫(David Rothkopf)表示。克林顿政府为布什对印度展开魅力攻势铺平了道路。
辛格此行是对奥巴马政府的首次正式国事访问，也是印度首次在美国总统上任后第一个对其进行国事访问。明日白宫将举行晚宴，将有400名嘉宾出席。但 外交场面不足以平息印度对华盛顿更广泛战略观的担心，尤其是在上周奥巴马与中国国家主席胡锦涛共同承诺要致力于维护“南亚地区”稳定之后。
新德里发表声明，强调“不干涉”立场。印度与中国关系紧张，还怀疑中国在印度煽动麻烦。
“奥巴马政府与印度的关系受到局势的左右，我们发现，他在访华期间不顾我们的利益，一心向中国示好，这尤其让人不安，”印度前驻巴基斯坦高级专员Gopalapuram Parthasarathy表示。
在印度再加工美国供应的核燃料问题上，新德里和华盛顿仍在艰难弥合双方的分歧。在印度能够从美国公司购买核反应堆之前，这个问题必须解决。印度也担心美国在阿富汗问题上不听自己的看法，也不顾自己对塔利班可能卷土重来的担忧。在阿富汗事务上，印度提供了12亿美元援助。
然而，不管印美关系多么棘手，双方之间的对话从来不是问题。这和奥巴马与胡锦涛之间的呆板交流形成鲜明对比。
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