US SECRETARY of state Hillary Clinton hopes to cement gains in ties with emerging global power India when she flies to New Delhi today while heading off new frictions with fragile US ally Pakistan.
Clinton’s two-day trip to India, her second as secretary of state, follows President Barack Obama’s visit last November and underscores Washington’s growing bonds with the world’s second most populous country and its $1.6 trillion economy.
Clinton will meet Indian leaders for a US-India "strategic dialogue” session, “regular meetings designed to get officials from both sides working more closely together, and comes nearly a week after deadly triple bomb attack on Mumbai.
She will then move on to Chennai, which has become a hub for US trade and investment, including a major auto engine plant for Ford Motor Co.
US officials say Clinton’s trip will demonstrate the breadth of cooperation – which ranges from expanding military and intelligence work to educational exchanges and nuclear and other hi-tech energy projects.
But the pending US drawdown of forces in Afghanistan and Indian relations with Pakistan will both be in focus as Indian security fears grow following Wednesday (July 13)’s attacks on Mumbai.
US officials and political analysts say that Clinton will urge India to stay the course and not raise tension, concerned that any overreaction by New Delhi could upset an already fragile US relationship with Islamabad.
“She will encourage India to do all it can to engage Pakistan, to find areas where they might be able to break down some of their barriers and build some kind of confidence in each other,” said Karl
Inderfurth, a former senior state department official under the Clinton administration and now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
It will not be an easy sell – although analysts say India itself is increasingly worried over the stability of its neighbour and has its own reasons for moving cautiously.
“The Indians see the United States as finally waking up to the problem of Pakistan, and they will not want to interject themselves into that process,” said Ashley Tellis, an India expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Clinton will update India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and other officials on Pakistan, as well as on US plans to draw down about a third of the 100,000 US forces from Afghanistan during the next year.
Indian officials are concerned an overly hasty US departure could benefit the Taliban and by extension Pakistan, and Clinton will outline how Washington plans to both stay engaged amid growing talk of a political settlement.
