Recent news articles leave one with the impression that people are trying to use India as a stick with which to beat the Obama administration. Yet consider this remark from Indian PM Manmohan Singh last night at the Council on Foreign Relations --
The social agenda has come to dominate the domestic political discourse, both in India and the United States. This was the verdict of our general election held in May 2009, and I believe it was also of yours.
The time is therefore opportune for us to substantially enhance our cooperation in critical areas of education, health, energy, science and technology and agriculture. Collaboration between our software industries has powered the global knowledge economy. We can build and we must on this experience and look at new frontiers of cooperation.
So although the geopolitical angle to US-India discussions is inevitable, the PM apparently believes that one ignores domestic social concerns at one's electoral peril. Sometimes, wars have to wait.
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