Washington, Jan 27
US President Barack Obama's
historic visit to be the chief guest at India's Republic Day
celebrations turned out to be much more than symbolic as it helped cut
the nuclear knot and paved the way for a 'new era' in India-US
relations.
US Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes
believes the signal that is being sent from Obama and Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to their respective governments "is going to
catalyse a lot of activity".
"It also sends a message to the
world, I think, that the US and India are going to be closer partners
going forward," he told US reporters accompanying President Obama at a
briefing in New Delhi.
"And that's entirely consistent with the
president's focus on the Asia-Pacific region and building closer
relations with emerging powers, particularly the world's largest
democracy here in India," he said.
Recognising the importance of
their deepening economic and commercial ties, India and the US also
decided to expand their annual strategic dialogue into a US-India
Strategic and Commercial Dialogue.
"The last two days have
demonstrated that over the years India and the United States have
systematically forged an indispensable partnership," as US Commerce
Secretary Penny Pritzker put it.
Pritzker, who would now jointly
lead the expanded dialogue with Secretary of State John Kerry, said the
developments were "indicative of a new day in the commercial
relationship between India and the United States".
The talks in
New Delhi may not have led to setting up goals for reducing carbon
emissions, but John Podesta, counsellor to the president, was upbeat
about Modi's "aggressive programme" to produce clean and renewable
energy.
"Our ability to partner with India to help produce 100
gigawatts of solar power between now and 2022, is part of a shift across
the globe towards cleaner forms of energy," he said "and it is being
done in conjunction with tackling the problem of climate change."
Obama
and Modi had "turned a corner for the United States and India", by
resolving "issues in a long-stalled nuclear deal that for years kept US
nuclear power companies from doing business in India", noted Alyssa
Ayres, senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council
on Foreign Relations.
Ayres, a former US deputy assistant
secretary of state for South Asia, suggested that the US should now aim
for bigger economic plans with India by backing India's membership of
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation body.
"Obama, coming out of
this symbolic and important visit to India, should demonstrate that
Washington will do its part for India's future by integrating India into
economic regimes focused on delivering growth," she wrote in a
commentary in Fortune.
Influential Politico magazine, noting that
the US and India were getting "serious about nuclear trade", wondered
if it was a "'New era' for US-India relations".
Christian Science
Monitor too saw "signs of a changing US-India relationship" amid the
pomp on Delhi's Rajpath noting that "a trip to New Delhi designed to
mend old differences had kicked off with a nuclear deal".
But the
influential New York Times summed it up saying "Obama's acceptance of
Modi's invitation this year was seen" in New Delhi "as a great tribute
to India, a sign of the country's arrival on the world stage".
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])
