Opinion: Why India feels jilted by Obama - CNN.com

Opinion: Why India feels jilted by Obama - CNN.com

Why India feels jilted by Obama

By Ravi Agrawal, CNN

April 7, 2014 -- Updated 0307
GMT (1107 HKT

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/06/opinion/agrawal-india-vote-u-s-relations/index.html?hpt=ias_r1

Editor's
note: Ravi Agrawal is CNN's New Delhi Bureau chief and was
formerly senior producer of the network's "Fareed Zakaria GPS."
Follow him on Twitter: @RaviAgrawalCNN

New Delhi (CNN) -- When I left India to move to America 13 years ago,
the President of the United States was George W. Bush, a man who was often
internationally lampooned for mismanaging two wars and tainting Washington's
image abroad. But moving back to India this month, I've been struck by the
number of Indians who look back wistfully at the Bush years.

For Indians, Bush is considered a better friend than
President Barack Obama. In fact, right now, Indians don't see Obama as much of
a friend at all.

It didn't start off that way. In the early days of his
presidency, in 2009, Obama marked India's Republic Day by saying Indians
"have no better friend" than the people of the United States. A year
later, when he visited New Delhi, he famously predicted India and the U.S.
would form "the defining partnership of the 21st century." At the
time, Obama won Indian hearts and minds as he chowed down kebabs at the city's
famous Bukhara restaurant. The chefs created a special platter that exists to
this day -- the Obama platter. (There was already a Bill Clinton platter, as
well as a Hillary one.)

Ravi Agrawal

Today, the platters have gone cold: New Delhi feels
jilted.

Instead of a defining partnership, Indians couldn't
quite define where they stood. Talk of a G-2 -- a U.S. mega-alliance with
China, an idea which didn't come from Obama -- inflamed old feelings of
jealousy. Washington's impending pullout from Afghanistan, along with its
generous aid to Pakistan, has stoked angst. But the real low point was reached
late last year when an Indian diplomat in New York was arrested and then
strip-searched for allegedly underpaying her nanny.

Obama likely had no prior knowledge of the case or the
arrest, but still, the perceived American high-handedness turned out to be too
much for India to digest.

New Delhi revoked privileges to U.S. interests in the
country, and across India, there were anti-American protests. Regardless of the
merits of the dispute, Indians wondered: If they had no better friend, was this
the treatment they deserved?

The sense of betrayal is mutual. Washington feels let
down, too -- and with some good reason. When Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine
this year, India chose not to side with the United States but to abstain on a
U.N. General Assembly resolution against the Russian action. (Russia is,
incidentally, India's largest supplier of arms.) When Washington sought to
coalesce support for stringent sanctions against Iran, the surprise spoiler
turned out to be New Delhi, which said it needed Iranian oil.

What happened to what was promised to be a close
friendship between the world's two biggest democracies?

Frosty
India and U.S. relations?

A new
age for India's Anglo-Indians

One could look to history for answers. Since its
independence in 1947, India -- scarred by centuries of invasions and
interventions -- has been a reluctant global player. Its first Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru, co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement, a group of nations that
aspired to steer clear of great powers and their geopolitics.

But 67 years on from its creation, India is now itself
an aspiring great power, already among the top 10 economies in the world.
Indian diplomats routinely express their hopes for India to become a permanent
member of the U.N. Security Council, joining the ranks of Russia, the United
States, China, France and the United Kingdom.

And yet India's foreign policy has remained aloof,
lagging well behind its growth. The country has about the same number of
diplomats abroad as Singapore, a country with a population 1/250th of India's.
The United States, with a population one quarter of India's, has 10 times as
many diplomats. How can India make or maintain friendships when it has always
stayed at home?

Instead of the past, Indians and Americans should look
to the future and the potential it could bring. A recent Pew survey shows that despite recent troubles,
Indians trust and like America. For every Indian expressing an unfavorable view
of the U.S., four Indians are favorable. By another four-to-one margin, Indians
say the U.S. is the world's leading economic power, not China. By a margin of
21 percentage points, Indians are more favorable to the United States than
China.

The data should not be surprising. India and the
United States have more in common than they have differences. One may be a
parliamentary system, the other presidential, but both celebrate and cherish
democracy, however chaotic and frustrating it can be. At any given time, nearly 100,000 Indians pursue degrees in the United States.
Many of them stay on and contribute to American society and business.
Strategically, as Washington competes for influence in Asia with China, it will
find a natural ally in New Delhi.

U.S. President Barack Obama
and first lady Michelle Obama tour through Humayun's Tomb in New Delhi on
November 7, 2010.

Obama's early rhetoric was spot-on: The two countries
share common ideals. But can they share a friendship and nurture it? Both sides
need to take a long, hard look at the world around them and wonder what kind of
role they want to play and who can help them do it.

As Indians head to the polls Monday to elect a new
government, foreign policy is not a campaign issue. It rarely is anywhere.
People tend to vote for the things that tangibly impact them: the economy,
taxes, infrastructure, education, health care. But whether Indians realize it
or not, the next few weeks could offer a chance to rejuvenate a troubled
relationship.

Whoever India's next Prime Minister is, he or she has
an opportunity to start afresh with the United States. Washington has already
opened a door to this, suggesting that Narendra Modi, the current favorite for
PM, will be allowed a U.S. visa. Modi was denied one in 2005 for his alleged
complicity in Hindu-Muslim riots 12 years ago. More than 1,000 Muslims were
killed. Modi was chief minister of Gujarat at the time, the state in which the
riots took place.

The last time Washington tried to hit the reset button
-- with Russia -- things went awry. But the stakes are too high to not try
again. If it gets this one right, Obama will be vindicated: This century's
defining alliance may yet be the one between the two biggest democracies in the
world.

 COMMENT:

Whenever anything wrong is
committed by India in any foreign country and caught red handed, then the foreign
country is blamed by it because it is a easy way to hide its criminality.

But what about it committing crime in violation of International law by wrongfully 
diverting water to its own land then giving water to the lower riparian land. 

Not only this when the entire world was against the election result of that small tiny
country held INDIA stood shamelessly naked to support the election of no vote 
and the election result This speaks volume of the democracy of the so called largest
 Democracy which is no more then Russian, Italy and Israel’s fake overt democracy
show and covertly authoritarian system. Time has come to call India a largest rapist 
country instead of India 

All these were done to India by the SISTER of the world famous sex maniac ex- Italy’s 
Prime Minister Berlusconi the sex scandalous mother fucker . 

Can the International Community of Nations deny the fact that they do not know 
who the bloody his sister is that converted India as the most corrupt and a 
largest rapist country. She was about to invite her brother Berlusconi to come 
and fuck Indians, but Indians got saved he and his sister is on way out of politics 
of Indian powerful politics.      

Recently,  as is reported public thinks that India
with its illegal presence within the neighboring country in collusion with the same
neighboring country’ government killed the protesting innocent political
activists and public by burning and destroying vehicles during the protesting days.

Later,  all these criminal acts of their doing,  the present government in power
blamed the opposition leaders and public to hide the doings
of own activists and the foreign incumbents to make futile the
opposition movement and the political agenda to compel the government to arrange
fresh election as per democratic norm of participation election by  the population of the
country and announce the date of the fresh election in line with the entire
world demand.

It did not stop there, this is strongly believed by the public that the
uncouth congress government tried to push this weak tiny weak neighboring
country to the corner by sending its intelligence gents secretly to supervise
and execute the killing of Opposition Political Leaders activists and innocent
public to instill fear in the entire population of the neighboring country.

So that none oppose in its endeavor to install a puppet government in the
country like the Russian the poodle master did in 
Georgia, Ukraine, India tried to do the same by conniving with a world
 known political Party within the neighboring country.

Recently, after the abduction
of public leaders and innocent public and killing them all over the country to
expedite the conspiratorial plan because of Indian election and short time felt
for installing the puppet government in the neighboring country made the
mistake by a Member of Parliamentary in implementing of the plan may be 

because of supervisor lapse..

The public Is fuming against the government at this very moment on getting
solid evidences against the government's involvement in abduction, demand
of money and killings.   

But things came out in surface
that Government is actively involved in such killing using criminals government
law enforcing institutions etc; in committal of these crimes with a view in its
endeavor to subdue  opposition demand to announce date of the fresh election date. 
and help foreign power to install the government as its puppet.

The same is however is the demand of
the entire world is in favor for fresh election except this Largest Rapist Country India.

Having mentioned the above,  would the learned author of the article hold
on to his conclusion that US has to take the opportunity of reconciliation with
India as if US is on the wrong side. Not so Fast respected author,  US has noting to 
go and take any opportunity.  When Indian  committed a crime why asking US to 
come forward for reconciliation.

This is because US committed no mistake and has to
attend to more important issues than to the issue suggested by the author of the
article. 

The conclusion should have been better if it was  mentioned that with the change of the
government in India if  both the countries like, may use the situation to reconcile with the
past happening.