IndiaUS

Tune into the ‘MO-bama Show’ on radio

- by India Writes Network

From joint op-eds to ‘Chalein Saath Saath,’ the intricate symphony of the multi-hued India-US relations will add new notes in the joint radio address by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama. On the last day of his three-day visit to India, President Obama will join Mr Modi in the latter’s monthly radio oration entitled “Mann Ki Baat,” on state-run All India Radio January 27.
“This month’s ‘Mann Ki Baat’ episode will be a special one, where our Republic Day guest @BarackObama & I will share our thoughts together,” Modi shared the news on the microblogging platform Twitter January 24. “I am eagerly looking forward to the special ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme with President @BarackObama, which will be aired on 27th January.”
The joint radio address with a visiting foreign leader is a first-ever such exercise and a communication coup of sorts – it underlines the new Indian prime minister’s grasp of the intermeshing of diplomacy and media in an image-driven world.
Both Modi and Obama are consummate orators, and have used diverse media tools to communicate with the classes and masses. Since taking charge of the world’s most populous democracy, Modi has hosted three monthly radio shows that began in October, talking on a range of issues, including his vision of India and the growing drug addiction among the Indian youth. Obama, on his part, makes a weekly radio address from the White House. In the US, the presidents have used radio to inform, inspire and preach.

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Why Obama is not going to Pakistan

- by Manish Chand

If there is one country which is closely watching US President Barack Obama’s trip to India, and with a twinge of anxiety, it is Pakistan. Islamabad and the country’s military establishment are none too happy with Mr Obama’s standalone visit to India and the promise of closer strategic ties between New Delhi and Washington.
Pakistan, according to some reports, tried hard to lobby with the US administration to get Mr Obama to also include Pakistan in his itinerary, but for all its powerful PR machinery in Washington DC, it could not succeed in its mission of seeking parity with India in the American strategic calculus.
This is, however, no time for gloating or schadenfreude for India, which has been at the receiving end of multiple terror attacks from Pakistan-based militant outfits. In fact, Pakistan should be and will be an important theme of conversation between President Obama and Prime Minister Obama when they sit down for talks in New Delhi on January 25. Prime Minister Modi should ask Mr Obama to use the US’ enormous leverage to get Pakistan to dismantle anti-India terror networks and expedite the prosecution of 26/11 masterminds and perpetrators. India should also reiterate its protest against the US clearing a fresh tranche of aid to Pakistan, which New Delhi suspects could be again diverted for anti-India armoury and activities. But the conversation should go beyond airing the oft-repeated grouse.

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Obama in India: Nuclear deal on fast-track

- by Manish Chand

The path-breaking India-US nuclear deal that transformed the two countries from estranged democracies to engaged democracies in the summer of 2005 is set to inch closer to fruition during the forthcoming visit of US President Barack Obama to India.
With barely days to go before Obama touches down in Delhi on a historic visit – the first time an American president will be coming in as the guest of honour at the country’s Republic Day celebrations – senior officials of both sides are locked into intense last-ditch negotiations to resolve festering issues related to India’s civil nuclear liability regime.
Technical quibbles aside, what has fuelled optimism about the implementation of the nuclear deal is the new energy and synergy in the India-US relations, which have been epitomised by President Obama accepting Mr Modi’s invitation to visit India within months of the latter’s visit to Washington in September last year. In this ambience of renewed optimism, the world’s oldest and largest democracies are expected to raise the bar for their overall engagement.

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India-US defence ties: Making co-development mantra work

- by India Writes Network

The India-US relations have gained visible momentum, especially in the arena of defence trade and cooperation. Through joint ventures (JVs) and defence co-production, India and the US have an opportunity to take their strategic partnership to new heights, a crucial area which will be in focus during the visit of US President Barack Obama to India, the first American president to be invited as the chief guest at India’s Republic Day celebrations. The JVs of Indian and American companies and the co-production of military hardware will prove mutually beneficial and add strategic heft to bilateral relations, with a careful considerations on factors like maturity of markets and technology absorption capabilities.
Co-production is going to act as an enabling lever to energise the US’ strategic partnership with India. As India takes steady steps to spur economic recovery through second generation economic reforms, American defence contractors understand the present favourable business climate in India. There are examples of Indian and US defence companies in joint ventures like those of Defence Public Sector Undertaking, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), to focus on the design, development, marketing, supply and support of civilian and select defence radars for India and the global markets. The other examples include Lockheed Martin and TATA to build C-130 components, and Sikorsky and TATA to build cabins for S-92 helicopters. India and the US share common political values and a strategic vision and are destined to be long-term partners. The defence ties would be one aspect of cooperation which would assume growing importance as both the countries join hands to combat terrorism, cooperate in counter-terrorism efforts, and in addressing a host of non-traditional security challenges, maritime security and intelligence sharing. Needless to say, the co-development and co-production of military equipment would only serve to buttress an increasingly strong defence and strategic partnership between the world’s oldest and largest democracies.

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Chalein Saath Saath: Celebrating Republic Day, with Barack Obama

- by Manish Chand

Marking a new energy and a milestone in the defining partnership of the 21st century, Barack Obama will become the first US president India will host as chief guest on the Republic Day in 2015.
President Obama’s acceptance of Mr Modi’s invitation to come to India is nothing short of a diplomatic coup by India’s new prime minister, who was not too long ago shunned by Washington for his alleged inaction during the 2002 Gujarat riots, and denied a visa. More importantly, it’s a strategic masterstroke as Mr Obama’s visit – this is the first time the leaders of India and the US would have visited each other’s country within months – and sends a powerful signal across to India’s friends and adversaries alike in the region and the world at large. China will be specially watching the Obama visit as there is nothing Beijing is more apprehensive about than the growing cosiness and strategic compact between the world’s leading democracies. Pakistan, the perpetual griper, will obviously like to launch a diplomatic offensive, as it’s already doing with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urging Mr Obama to take up the Kashmir issue with Mr Modi during their January meeting. Islamabad will probably get the same frosty answer as George Bush said in Islamabad so memorably in 2006: “Pakistan and India are different countries with different needs and different histories.”

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Why China is wary of India-US statement on South China Sea

- by Manish Chand

The first-ever reference to South China Sea in an India-US joint statement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Washington has riled Beijing, and revived the latter’s fears about the world’s two largest democracies acting in concert on a larger China containment strategy.
Predictably, China, which, according to the IMF, has taken over the US to become the world’s largest economy on purchasing power parity terms, has asserted that the South China Sea sovereignty issue should be resolved directly by parties concerned and without meddling from any third party.
Much to the discomfort of Beijing, India’s Act East policy and the US rebalance to Asia are converging in some respects to promote peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific theatre.

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