The recent visit of US vice-president Joseph Biden deserves to be seen in the light of a distinct sag in India-US relations that last month’s trip to India of secretary of state John Kerry could not do much to restore. But Mr Biden’s talks in India also suggest that there is a will on both sides to do something about fixing things.
Among top rung American political personalities, the vice-president is long known to hold a favourable view of this country. No less important than the official agenda he came with, the choice by Washington of
Mr Biden — who became the first US vice-president in some 30 years to come to India — to carry the burden of communicating concerns over the state of ties conveys the desire to do something soonest to re-shape ties.
With a September summit scheduled between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Barack Obama in Washington, the laying down of priorities in India-US relations cannot be over-emphasised. This does not mean India should acquiesce in America’s view of the world and relinquish positions that buttress its national interests. But it does mean finding the time to refurbish relations with the world’s paramount power with which we have many differences but also share with it the respect for democracy, at the level of credo as well as practice, however imperfect this may seem at times.
Mr Biden’s agenda was as wide as those encompassed by the gamut of India-US relations. But at the present juncture, the points of emphasis cannot but be the civil nuclear cooperation issue and the Afghanistan question. America’s recent trans-Pacific foray with its pivot to Asia is also important, but the US would appreciate that India would not entertain the idea of a belligerent China posture if push came to shove.
On the other hand, while without US initiative and help, the gateway to international commerce in nuclear materials would not have opened for India, American commercial interests are wary of participating in India’s burgeoning nuclear energy programme on account of the Indian liability law — as it applies to reactor suppliers — in the case of an accident. The US believes the Indian law is not in conformity with the Supplementary Liability Convention, while India thinks it is. Any differences in interpretation should be reconciled quickly to allow a constructive via media to emerge before the PM travels to Washington. India-US relations cannot be permitted to be spooked by this factor. At the same time, Washington has to be told that mollycoddling Pakistan — in the Afghan context — has the potential to undercut Indo-US relations.