A much-needed intermission for India came by way of the three-day state visit of the President of the United States, Barack Obama. We were longing for a break from the unending stories of greed, exploitation and audacious lack of accountability. Rotting of lakhs of tonnes of foodgrains in various Food Corporation of India godowns is

criminal and downright cruel in this country where 30 people in every hundred live in cursed conditions. On top of that, no one has been held responsible for this outrage! The scandals relating to the Commonwealth Games were streaming in like taila dhara, one new with every sunrise. And yet, not an arrest till date! The 2G spectrum telecom affair, causing a loss of over `1 lakh crore to the exchequer, has set new standards in corruption and shamelessness. Notwithstanding the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report and Supreme Court reprimanding the Central Bureau of Investigation, the telecom scandal has revealed how helpless our Prime Minister can be. The tainted minister continues to rule! Then came the Adarsh Co-operative Housing scandal and stories of how benefits meant for war widows were looted by a set of self-serving politicians and conniving senior Army officers. The tainted Maharashtra chief minister taunted public consciousness by asking why he alone should go since others were involved as well. We longed for an intermission if not an end to all this which was drowning us in shame. And that’s when Mr Obama arrived.
This intermission, however, was serious business. The beleaguered US President needed to boost his economy with jobs for the Americans. He wanted the growing Indian market to open up even more to benefit American industries. Writing in the New York Times, the President said: “During my first visit to India, I will... announce concrete progress toward our export goal — billions of dollars in contracts that will support tens of thousands of American jobs. We will also explore ways to reduce barriers to United States exports and increase access to the Indian market... And the more we export abroad, the more jobs we create in America... In fact, every $1 billion we export supports more than 5,000 jobs at home... I set a goal of doubling America’s exports in the next five years”.
In Mumbai, the President focused just on this “US jobs” agenda, compelling a bright college student to ask Mr Obama about his views on Pakistan and the perpetrators of terror — a question nearly all Indians wanted him to answer. His reply lent credence to the nation’s suspicion that Mr Obama saw an ally in Pakistan and a market in India.
A confident new India, seeking a new world order, expected the President of the largest democracy to speak to it as an equal. He didn’t. Yet, in all fairness, the US needs India to contain the growing undemocratic China.
The New York Times, in the same issue quoted above, wrote in its editorial: “Ahead of the trip, much of the focus has been on defence and trade deals that will produce jobs. Those are undeniably important. But the trip will be a failure if it does not also deal with strategic issues... India is anxious about America’s plans for Afghanistan and Washington’s close ties with Pakistan — base for insurgencies that threaten all three countries... There are many other challenges, including managing the rise of China, that can be dealt with more effectively if Washington and New Delhi work together”.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj, had a purposeful meeting with the President a few hours before his address in Parliament. The market versus ally perception was conveyed by her to the President. Ms Swaraj also underlined her view that China cannot have a role in resolving any issue in South Asia.
President Obama sensed the mood of the nation and made up for all that was left unsaid till then in his address to Parliament. He repeated the line that Pakistan should bring the perpetrators of 26/11 to book and put an end to the terror camps. The progress of US-India strategic relationship and the blueprint for the future were sketched out with flair to our legislatures. Mr Obama said he expected India to play its due role in the Group of Twenty and saw India as a permanent member of a reformed UN Security Council.
Mr Obama reached out to all sections of the Indian society, as would any Indian politician. He spoke with equal ease about Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Dr Ambedkar and Rabindranath Tagore. The essential spirit behind Vasudaiva Kutumbakam was not lost on him even as he made the effort to pronounce Panchatantra.
The First Lady, Michelle Obama, is a huge asset for United States diplomacy. She presents its livelier, softer face. The staid and the suave that go with diplomacy and protocol are levelled out with her easy charm. Like a fish takes to water, she was at ease with young children and informal. In retrospect, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Indians waited for the piece de resistance in Parliament, as it were, rejoicing in the meanwhile at the goodwill that Mrs Obama was carefully creating.
The joint statement at the end of Mr Obama’s visit highlighted in great detail the strategic partnership between India and the US for peace and terrorism, as well as in creating employment, attracting investment, and cooperation in agriculture and environment management.
As with many other important things that they handle, in this “Obama intermission” too, the Indian media was fully immersed. Not a single aspect of the visit was missed out. The Obamas’ suits at the Taj and the Maurya, their cavalcade, their couture, Mrs Obama’s shopping or even her bobbed hair and her statement brooches — nothing was left out.
But did we forget that one thing which should have found its due place in this intermission? Justice for Bhopal? We are not privy to the content of the talks between the Prime Minister and the President. But the NGOs at Jantar Mantar and Ms Swaraj during her meeting with Mr Obama reminded the President that “a solution on the pattern of the BP Oil spill case” is indeed required for Bhopal — for a fair and just closure. I only hope that at least on his return to the White House, Mr Obama will do justice — to the environment and the people of Bhopal.
End of intermission.

Nirmala Sitharaman is spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The views expressed in this column are her own.